At least for now, encryption makes it theoretically impossible for the
platforms themselves to see any of the text of communications, let alone for
scholars to get access to these data.13 To be clear, this does not mean that no
“data” can be analyzed; it is still possible, for example, to see how often an
account
to make
assessments as to whether the account is more likely to be controlled by a
human or an algorithm (or even whether a set of accounts appears to be

is sending out messages and therefore,

for example,

12 Many questions remain to be answered as to the appropriateness of existing statistical methods
for analyzing differentially private data, as well as how fast new methods for doing can be
developed and validated. See, for example, Evans and King (2019), as well as accompanying
software available at https://github.com/georgieevans/PrivacyUnbiased.

13 We say “at least for now” because the rise of quantum computers may challenge conventional
Social_Media_and_Democracy