Webinar: Platform data Ofcom report

Webinar: Unlocking platform data for research – Ofcom’s report

11:00am – 12:00pm, Wednesday 6 August 2025

Ofcom platform data report – join the Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce with Ofcom and DSIT

Ofcom recently published a report on researchers’ access to platform data. This webinar for researchers brings together key stakeholders to discuss how the report’s policy options will translate into practical access for the research community.

The webinar, hosted by Smart Data Research UK’s Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce, will be an opportunity for the research community to hear directly from Ofcom about the report as well as the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Together, they will be discussing next steps to turn proposals into reality.

The Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce, co-chaired by Dr Amy Orben and Professor Kate Dommett, will set out its own next steps for ensuring the community is consulted over the next year when ideas will increasingly become policy reality.

It’s an opportunity for researchers who use (or want to use) digital social platforms’ data to ask questions, provide feedback and understand what happens next.

What you’ll learn

• Key points from Ofcom’s report
• DSIT’s remit and work on data access
• How researchers can engage with the Taskforce
• Next steps for the research community

Aims

• To provide an overview of Ofcom’s report on researcher access to information from online services
• To introduce the Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce
• To facilitate discussion between the research community, Ofcom and DSIT and encourage feedback
• To stimulate further discussion among the research community about data access to social platforms

Speakers

• A representative from Ofcom
• Daniel James, Joint Head of OSA Accountability Policy (Enforcement, User Redress, Super Complaints and Researcher Access to Data), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
• Dr Amy Orben, co-chair of Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, University of Cambridge
• Professor Kate Dommett, co-chair of Social Platforms Data Access Taskforce, and Professor of Digital Politics at the University of Sheffield

Who should attend? 

• Researchers who use or want to use social media data
• Researchers interested in online safety research
• PhD students and early career researchers
• Academic research support professionals
• Government researchers

Register here

This is an important moment for research access to platform data in the UK. If you are a researcher, register now to be part of the conversation shaping the future of digital research.

To hear more about the work of the Taskforce, please sign up for updates by emailing: data-access-taskforce@ukri.org.