In a collaborative effort to strengthen data protection on social media, South Africa joins 16 other global data protection authorities in highlighting the urgent need for social media companies to better safeguard personal information from data scraping. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), concerns are growing over mass scraping—automated extraction of publicly accessible data—which poses risks to user privacy and feeds into the development of AI systems.
A follow-up statement has been issued to build on a 2023 joint statement on scraping-related privacy risks. This statement urges companies to adopt comprehensive measures to counteract data scraping, such as bot detection, IP blocking, and other security controls. Key recommendations include adherence to privacy laws when using personal data to train AI models, maintaining up-to-date safeguards against evolving scraping techniques, and ensuring that data scraping conducted for commercial or socially beneficial purposes is lawful and contractually regulated.
Following the 2023 statement, social media giants such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn have engaged with authorities and industry partners, such as the Mitigating Unauthorized Scraping Alliance, to discuss solutions. These discussions have highlighted the growing challenges posed by sophisticated scraping technologies and the difficulty of distinguishing between scrapers and legitimate users.
Social media companies have reported progress, implementing advanced multi-layered approaches to mitigate scraping, including platform design modifications, AI-driven defenses, and cost-effective tools suitable for smaller companies. This ongoing engagement between social media companies and global authorities underscores a collective commitment to protecting user data amid a rapidly changing digital landscape.