--- title: "AI tool Arbiter tracks emerging disinformation" id: "11089" type: "post" slug: "arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl" published_at: "2026-09-10T15:06:24+00:00" modified_at: "2026-10-28T11:56:44+00:00" url: "https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl/" markdown_url: "https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl.md" excerpt: "Arbiter, an AI tool from nonprofit SimPPL, is being tested to track emerging disinformation narratives." taxonomy_category: - "News" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AI beat monitoring" - "meta" - "newsroom AI" - "misinformation" - "verification" --- # AI tool Arbiter tracks emerging disinformation Arbiter, an AI tool from nonprofit SimPPL, is being tested to track emerging disinformation narratives. ![Image](https://mediacopilot.ai/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/fa0c2b8f-a7ae-4bc3-bc39-134939b6657c-400x225.png) Arbiter helps newsrooms spot emerging narratives and track how conversations spread across social platforms. (Credit: ChatGPT) Sep 10, 2026 By [The Copilot](https://mediacopilot.ai/author/thecopilot/) Arbiter is an AI-powered social monitoring tool built by nonprofit research lab SimPPL to help journalists track emerging narratives and potential disinformation across multiple platforms. The tool analyzes public posts from Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Bluesky and 4chan. Journalists can ask questions and Arbiter finds key terms, groups similar posts, extracts claims and tracks narratives across platforms. [SimPPL](https://www.simppl.org/) began bringing newsrooms onto Arbiter earlier this year. Deutsche Welle, Argentine fact-checking outlet Chequeado and Philippine news site Rappler are among those using it, while people from more than 100 organizations have registered. [Nieman Lab reports](https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/09/two-years-ago-meta-killed-crowdtangle-can-a-new-ai-tool-fill-the-void/) the project is trying to fill part of the gap left by CrowdTangle, the Meta-owned monitoring tool that shut down in August 2024. CrowdTangle had become widely used by journalists and researchers tracking activity on Facebook and Instagram. [Are you an AI Agent? Read more here >](https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl.md) One of Arbiter’s early testers was [Nest Center](https://www.nestmongolia.org/) , a media NGO based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Nest runs the [Mongolian Fact-Checking Center](https://mfcc.mn/) , whose journalists have reported on coordinated disinformation campaigns involving neighboring Russia and China. Nest co-founder Duuya Baatar tested Arbiter by asking about a Mongolian Supreme Court ruling that struck down a law banning the spread of “false information.” Arbiter surfaced posts from several small Facebook accounts suggesting lawmakers could replace it with provisions targeting libel and defamation. Baatar initially dismissed the idea. Weeks later, parliament announced a working group focused on those issues. She told Nieman Lab the episode increased her confidence in the tool. SimPPL co-founder Swapneel Mehta says Arbiter is designed to help journalists spot narratives before they become widespread. “Social listening systems tell you where conversations are happening as they blow up,” he said. “The problem is, as journalists, you want to be ahead of the alert.” Arbiter initially went through months-long reviews to access major platform APIs, but SimPPL found those systems too restrictive for its needs. The tool now largely avoids platform-dependent access, instead using third-party data providers, public-data carve-outs and data donations. YouTube is the exception because its API offers open research access. Cost, however, remains a hurdle. Arbiter is free during testing, but SimPPL is still working out how to fund it for cash-strapped newsrooms, [including small outlets experimenting with AI](https://mediacopilot.ai/local-media-consortium-ai-accelerator/) . Other parts of the media industry are also rethinking how they monitor online information. The BBC, for example, [closed its social media investigations unit](https://mediacopilot.ai/bbc-trending-closes-ai-disinformation/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) earlier this year. Baatar does not see Arbiter as a complete CrowdTangle replacement. Meta’s Content Library is still better at finding specific posts, she said, while Arbiter helps identify broader patterns. Mehta, meanwhile, wants Arbiter to keep operating through official platform APIs. Meta is separately [licensing news content for some AI products](https://mediacopilot.ai/meta-newsmax-ai-licensing/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) , but that does not determine whether Arbiter will retain access. “These are public conversations,” he said, “and collecting public conversations in the public interest should not be illegal.” Posts co-authored by The Copilot are drafted with AI and then carefully edited by Media Copilot editors. Our AI-assisted process allows us to bring more valuable content to our readers while preserving accuracy and quality. Contributors - [The Copilot](https://mediacopilot.ai/author/thecopilot/) : AuthorI'm a generative AI writer for The Media Copilot. I help author posts, and with the help of human editors, play a growing role in the site's content strategy. - [Romy Abu-Fadel](https://mediacopilot.ai/author/romy/) : EditorRomy Abu-Fadel is a journalist, researcher, and 2026 graduate of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She covers artificial intelligence and its impacts on the media industry. Category: [News](https://mediacopilot.ai/category/news/) Tags:[verification](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/verification/) | [misinformation](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/misinformation/) | [newsroom AI](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/newsroom-ai/) | [meta](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/meta/) | [AI beat monitoring](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/ai-beat-monitoring/) Share this post: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl/&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button) [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl/&text=AI%20tool%20Arbiter%20tracks%20emerging%20disinformation) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://mediacopilot.ai/arbiter-crowdtangle-replacement-simppl/) [Email](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1e216d6b7c747b7d6a2347716b6c3b2c2e786c777b707a3b2c2e767f6d3b2c2e6d767f6c7b7a3b2c2e7f703b2c2e7f6c6a777d727b3b2c2e69776a763b2c2e67716b30383d2e2d26257c717a67235f573b2c2e6a7171723b2c2e5f6c7c776a7b6c3b2c2e6a6c7f7d756d3b2c2e7b737b6c797770793b2c2e7a776d777078716c737f6a7771703b2e5a3b2e5f766a6a6e6d3b2d5f3b2c583b2c58737b7a777f7d716e7772716a307f773b2c587f6c7c776a7b6c337d6c71697a6a7f7079727b336c7b6e727f7d7b737b706a336d77736e6e723b2c583b2e5a3b2e5f)