Meta Content Library and API

UPDATED

AUG 24, 2023

Meta Content Library (Beta) and Content Library API (Beta) provide comprehensive access to the full public content archive from Facebook and Instagram. Researchers can explore detailed documentation to learn more about using these products.

Available Facebook and Instagram data

Both tools provide near real-time public content from Facebook and Instagram. Details about the content, such as the post owner and the number of reactions and shares, are also available.

FACEBOOK

Posts shared to and information about Pages, groups and events

INSTAGRAM

Posts shared by and information about business and creator accounts

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA

Available for most countries and territories but excluded from countries where Meta is still evaluating legal and compliance requirements

POST VIEW DATA

The number of times a post or reel was displayed on screen

Content Library

Meta Content Library is a web-based, controlled-access environment and does not allow data to be exported for analysis. Researchers can perform deeper analysis of the public content by using Content Library API in Researcher Platform.

SEARCHING AND FILTERING

Searching all public posts across Facebook and Instagram is easy with comprehensive sorting and filtering options. Post results can be filtered by language, view count, media type, content producer and more.

MULTIMEDIA

Photos, videos and reels are available for dynamic search, exploration and analysis.

PRODUCER LISTS

Customizable collections of content producers can be used to refine search results. Researchers can apply custom producer lists to a search query to surface public content from specific content owners on Facebook or Instagram.

API CODE GENERATION

Researchers can generate an API query in either Python or R directly from their search query. The code can be pasted into the Content Library API to retrieve search results and perform deeper analysis.

Content Library API

Content Library API allows programmatic queries of the data and is designed for computational researchers familiar with R or Python. Data pulled from the API can be analyzed in Researcher Platform.

ENDPOINTS AND DATA FIELDS

With 6 dedicated endpoints, Content Library API can search across over 100 data fields from Instagram accounts and posts and Facebook Pages, posts, groups and events.

SEARCH INDEXING AND RESULTS

Powerful search capabilities can return up to 100,000 results per query.

ASYNCHRONOUS SEARCH

Asynchronous search allows for queries to run in the background while a researcher works on other tasks. Query progress is monitored and tracked by the API.

Researcher Platform

Researcher Platform is a virtual data clean room that provides secure access to Facebook and Instagram datasets designed for researchers.

FREE COMPUTATION

Computation and data analysis on Researcher Platform are free and support researchers collaborating on terabyte- to petabyte-scale datasets.

JUPYTERHUB ENVIRONMENT

Researcher Platform runs a modified, access-controlled version of JupyterHub, an open source tool that supports R, Python, SQL and a range of standard statistical packages. It offers both CPU and GPU servers.

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Researchers can export their research outputs under agreed-upon terms and conditions. Research outputs can consist of code, figures, tables, graphs and statistics.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for product access, researchers must be affiliated with a qualified academic institution or a qualified research institution. Researchers from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds are welcome to apply.

Application and access

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan.

Learn more

Publishing with Meta Content Library and Content Library API

Researchers may publish and share the results and findings of their research without prior approval from Meta. Meta will not ask to review research manuscripts prior to publication, but we ask that researchers follow Meta’s attribution guidelines and provide notice upon publishing.

Frequently asked questions

Do researchers have to pay to access Content Library and Content Library API?

No. There are no fees associated with access or computation.

Are global researchers eligible for access to Content Library and Content Library API?

We welcome global researchers, but access to or use of our tools and data must comply with all applicable laws, policies, rules and regulations. In addition, the researcher applicant, and any academic university or institution with which the applicant is affiliated, must not be in a jurisdiction that is the target of sanctions imposed by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union or United Nations.

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Do global researchers affiliated with institutions not in the United States still need to apply through the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)?

Yes. All Content Library and Content Library API applications are processed and reviewed by ICPSR

How do you define qualified academic and research institutions?

A qualified academic institution means an academic institution that is:

  • dedicated to the pursuit of education and research

  • accredited, as indicated by recognized standards and evidence on the institution's website (for example, a university) and/or as demonstrated by documentation provided to ICPSR

  • qualified to grant academic degrees (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, etc.)

  • a not-for-profit endeavor (not a business whose sole purpose is to make a profit)

A qualified research institution means an institution that is a non-university research organization, institute, society or entity which has demonstrated its primary purpose is to conduct scientific research or educational services with scientific research together for public interest.

Do researchers have to reapply for access if they change their research topic or proposal?

If the researcher has made any substantive changes to their research topic, proposal or research ethics documentation since having their application approved by ICPSR, they must reapply for access via ICPSR.

Do Content Library and Content Library API include data from all countries and geographies?

No. Public content is excluded from certain countries where we are evaluating compliance with applicable legal requirements.