Constitution

The name of the organisation is the Social Data Science Alliance, or SDSA, for short.

The purpose of the SDSA is to help external researchers to engage with Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), under provisions established by law. The initial focus of the organisation is on the provisions defined in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), Article 40(4), so the founding constitution makes direct reference to these provisions.

Article 40(4) requires VLOPs to provide access to vetted external researchers—subject to various conditions—to enable them to conduct research into ‘systemic risks’ arising from the operation of VLOPs, and into methods for mitigating identified risks. But to make productive use of these provisions, some new organisational structures are needed for researchers, to enable a coherent programme of research, rather than a collection of unrelated projects, and to offer evidence-based advice to EU policymakers based on this research programme. The purpose of the SDSA is to help to provide these structures. In particular:

• It will help to coordinate applications for research projects seeking DSA-enabled access to VLOPs, so that researchers with similar objectives can potentially collaborate, and research gaps can be identified.
• It will help communicate the results of DSA-enabled research that has already been conducted, or that is currently underway, to other researchers, and to the wider community. It will also ensure that this communication abides by the privacy and non-disclosure measures put in place for each individual project.
• It will provide a forum for researchers to discuss research methods suitable for use within VLOPS, including methods already in use, to aid in the design of new research proposals. It will ensure these discussion methods adhere to privacy and non-disclosure measures put in place for individual projects.
• It will provide methods for reflecting on the collective findings of DSA-enabled research projects, and compiling these into recommendations for EU policymakers.

For clarity:

• The SDSA will not itself submit applications for DSA-enabled research projects.
• The SDSA will not be involved in assessing applications for DSA-enabled research projects. While any member is involved in assessing applications for DSA-enabled research projects, they must suspend their SDSA membership.
• The SDSA may offer assistance in disputes that arise between VLOPs and researchers conducting or applying for DSA-enabled research. In that role, it may engage with other relevant groups, in particular the ‘Independent Intermediary Body’ that is being formed to help administer DSA-enabled access (see Section 5).

The SDSA is open to all researchers who are participating in DSA-enabled research projects, or who plan to apply for DSA-enabled research projects. These members must belong to a ‘research organisation’, as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2019/790: broadly speaking, a university or research institute.

The SDSA is also open to anyone interested in democratic governance of tech platforms, who wishes to assist in the development of proposals for DSA-enabled research projects, or other legally mandated projects involving access to VLOPs. This includes researchers, members of civil society groups, journalists, or other stakeholders with useful perspectives on VLOP risks / mitigation mechanisms.

To avoid conflicts of interest, membership is not open to employees of VLOPs, or to people who are currently involved in vetting proposals for DSA-enabled access to VLOPs. But we wish to have a productive relationship with these two groups, and we invite them to participate at events (see Section 3 below).

Membership decisions will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, disability, age, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, or citizenship. (In particular, we do not require members to be EU citizens: the intention of the DSA is to provide access for relevant projects to the world’s best researchers.)

We will organise regular meetings for members, and periodic events, for a broader group.

Meetings will happen online. All members can participate in meetings; non-members will also be invited from time to time. At each meeting, we will arrange a presentation on a topic related to DSA-enabled research, followed by a discussion. SDSA business may also be discussed, and certain questions can be put to a vote amongst members who are in the meeting.

Events will happen online, or in person. They are open to non-members, as well as members of SDSA. Events will have the format of academic workshops, with a chosen programme of presentations, and opportunities for discussion. For in-person events, there may be a registration charge for participants. Events can also include a business meeting, where issues of SDSA business are decided by votes from participating SDSA members.

The officers for SDSA comprise two co-chairs, a secretary, and a treasurer. Other informal positions may also be created, in particular relating to event organisation.

The duties of officers are as follows.

• The co-chairs will organise regular meetings and periodic events (as defined in Section 3).
• The secretary will keep a record of current SDSA members. The secretary will also take, record, and file minutes of SDSA meetings, and business meetings at SDSA events.
• The treasurer will maintain financial records, and report on the financial transactions of SDSA.

Officers will be elected by members, through the following processes:

• In an Annual General Meeting towards the end of the calendar year, there will be a call for nominations for all officer positions.
• In the following meeting, nominations for all positions will be received. Nominations must be of SDSA members, and must be made by SDSA members.
• In the meeting after that, there will be votes for all positions. All members at that meeting may vote. In case of a tie, the secretary has the casting vote.

The SDSA will work alongside several other organisations with roles that are relevant to the organisation of DSA-enabled research.

• The DSA40 Data Access Collaboratory at the Weizenbaum Institute has a role in tracking data access requests made under the terms of the DSA’s Article 40. This is a closely connected organisation, and the SDSA will work closely with this organisation.
• Existing research organisations that have closely relevant expertise. These could include AI research organisations (such as EurAI and AAAI), social media research organisations (such as the AAAI conference on Web and Social Media and ICSMS), social science organisations (such as ICRBS and IOSSBR), organisations studying online disinformation (such as the European Digital Media Observatory EDMO) and organisations focussed on mental health, and health more generally (such as the WHO’s Pan-European Mental Health Coalition and NIMH).
• The Independent Intermediary Body (IIB) being set up within EDMO aims to have a role in assisting with the vetting of researchers applying for DSA-enabled access, and in advising the EU’s Digital Services Coordinators about suitable projects. The SDSA has a distinct role from the IIB, as noted in Section 1. In particular, the IIB will include representatives from VLOPs, while the SDSA will not. But there are two points where there are useful links between the two organisations. One of the planned roles of the IIB is to periodically ‘convene the research community’ (see p5 of the IIB’s core tasks document). This would naturally involve a joint meeting with SDSA. Another of the IIB’s planned roles is to ‘mediate disputes between researchers and platforms’ (see again p5 of the core tasks document). Again, this is a process in which the SDSA could potentially participate, in providing support for researchers.

This constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority vote at any SDSA meeting.