U.S. senators announce bipartisan social media data transparency bill

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) gives a copy of her book "Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age" to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2021. Tom Williams/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. senators, two Democrats and a Republican, announced on Thursday a bill to require social media companies like Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms Inc, to give certain researchers access to its data.

Senators Chris Coons and Amy Klobuchar, both Democrats, announced the bill along with Rob Portman, a Republican. It would require the companies to release internal data and assist independent researchers whose projects have been vetted by the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency.