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Twitter Blocks API Access For Sites Monitoring Politicians' Deleted Tweets

Posted by Soulskill on from the off-the-record dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Politwoops is/was a site that monitored the Twitter feeds of politicians and posted any tweets that those politicians later deleted. On May 15, Twitter suspended API access for the U.S. version of Politwoops, and now they've blocked access to the versions of Politwoops running in 30 other countries. Twitter has also blocked access for similar site Diplotwoops, which focused on deleted tweets from diplomats and embassies. Twitter said, "'Imagine how nerve-racking – terrifying, even – tweeting would be if it was immutable and irrevocable? No one user is more deserving of that ability than another. Indeed, deleting a tweet is an expression of the user's voice." Arjan El Fassed, director of the Open State Foundation, which developed Politwoops, disagrees: "What politicians say in public should be available to anyone. This is not about typos but it is a unique insight on how messages from elected politicians can change without notice."

12 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by fey000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If there is one thing politicians need less of, it's personal responsibility.

    Imagine a world where politicians could be judged not only by what they say in front of the reporters, but also by their actions and behaviour outside of PR-dictated statements. Sounds horrible, right? It's a good thing Twitter has stepped in to make sure that doesn't happen.

    1. Re:Finally! by Jhon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "a lot of these are tweeted by interns" ... "no reason to jump on someone for saying the wrong thing on a slow news day"

      I disagree. Shouldn't a politician also be judged by the quality of people they appoint and how they respond to inept and irresponsible actions by them?

    2. Re:Finally! by cdrudge · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps the politicians shouldn't rely on interns to be their voice then.

  2. Thank GOD. by gurps_npc · · Score: 5, Funny
    Someone if finally protecting our most vulnerable citizens - the politicians that make the law.

    Our long nightmare of people being punished for things they actually said is over!.

    Thank you Twitter.

    Now, we can finally get back to using twitter to mob-shame some poor guy that was overheard making a joke about pedophilia that some moron thought was almost heard clearly from 100 ft away on a crowded train station.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
  3. WTF by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Imagine how nerve-racking â" terrifying, even â" tweeting would be if it was immutable and irrevocable?"

    Umm... you mean like all other speech?

    There is no "undo" button for life Twitter. Deal with it.

    I don't even know why the "Delete" button exists in Twitter, because it is stupid and doesn't do much. Various clients allow you to ignore it totally and keep the deleted tweet in your cache.

  4. Not News by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's part of the API ToS you sign up for when using the Twitter API. If you get a delete event, you're supposed to remove the referenced tweet.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:Not News by pla · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No such requirement exists, however, to simply visit someone's Twitter page. I see this (extremely valuable) tool as likely rewritten into a straightforward page-scraper by the end of the day. Block that, Twitter!

      Hell, I might rewrite it as such if I have a slow afternoon.

      We don't need no stinkin' TOS to load a public website!

  5. you can set Google Alerts for Twitter by ihtoit · · Score: 5, Informative

    It'll email you not only the date and time of the message - any message - from certain individuals or using certain hashtags, it'll send you the entire content of he message as it goes out - even if it's later deleted, it's still in your inbox.

    What're Twitter going to do, block Google??

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  6. Anyone know the tweet that caused this? by Coisiche · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I read the statement linked in the summary and immediately wondered, what was the deleted tweet that brought the pressure on Twitter to do this?

    I'm pretty sure there has to be one. Either that or someone with a lot of influence was worried that they might tweet carelessly.

    1. Re:Anyone know the tweet that caused this? by fey000 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I read the statement linked in the summary and immediately wondered, what was the deleted tweet that brought the pressure on Twitter to do this?

      I'm pretty sure there has to be one. Either that or someone with a lot of influence was worried that they might tweet carelessly.

      Maybe Hillary accidentally tweeted some classified emails?

  7. Ministry of Truth by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I guess someone from the Ministry of Truth complained. Rewriting history is hard when all the old editions are laying around.

    Its not stopping the common core people from trying though.

    --
    Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  8. Attention, citizen by Experiment+626 · · Score: 4, Funny

    We have always been at war with Eastasia. I challenge anyone to find a tweet where I have ever claimed otherwise.