https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108890960 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Conclusion

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effect of smoking on health, for example. Moreover, we believe that, in the long
term, solving this ﬁle drawer problem would beneﬁt the platforms as well.
Today, if a ﬁrm releases studies that show positive societal beneﬁts from
usage of its platform, how can policymakers know if there were ﬁfty other
studies the company had run that showed the opposite effect? Thus, as long as
the company only selectively releases research, the results from any studies
released publicly that paint the company in a positive light are likely to be
greeted with skepticism. Conversely, if public-facing researchers have access to
data to conﬁrm results published by internal researchers, the public is more
likely to trust the ﬁrm’s research, in general.
Social_Media_and_Democracy