Twitter has effectively killed 31 accounts associated with the Open State Foundation that were dedicated to archiving deleted tweets from politicians and diplomats around the globe.
Twitter revoked API access to OSF's primary American account in May and over the weekend shut down the foundation's 30 remaining accounts from around the world, collectively known as Politwoops. API, otherwise known as Application Programming Interface, allowed programmers to use the tool that automatically archived politicians' deleted tweets. The tool was widely used by journalists, OSF noted.
Politwoops accounts from Canada, Egypt, India, Ireland, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, Norway and the U.K. were among those affected by the decision. The Diplotwoops site, an associated projected dedicated to archiving deleted tweets from diplomats, was also shut down.
Twitter reportedly told OSF the decision was made after "thoughtful internal deliberation and close consideration of a number of factors," adding that politicians' tweets should be treated no differently than those of the general public.
"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," Twitter said, according to the foundation. "Indeed, deleting a tweet is an expression of the user's voice."
Upon shutting down OSF's U.S.-based Politwoops project in May, which was run by the Sunlight Foundation, Twitter cited a violation of the company's privacy agreement for developers, reports The Hill.
Open State Foundation Director Arjan El Fassed, said in a statement that anything "elected politicians publicly say is a matter of public record. Even when tweets are deleted, it's part of parliamentary history."
"These tweets were once posted and later deleted. 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," he added.
The British version of Politwoops and its Twitter account, @deletedbyMPs, was among those effectively rendered obsolete by Twitter's decision.
"It's a terrible shame that twitter have made this decision. Politwoops has been an important new tool in political accountability in the UK and abroad. Politicians are all too happy to use social media to campaign but if we lose the ability for this to be properly preserved, it becomes a one way tool," Jules Mattsson, who runs the account, told the Guardian. "Social media is playing an increasing role in British politics and this denies us an opportunity to extend proper accountability to social platforms. The Labour leadership race has reminded us of the importance of politicians' past sentiments in making informed decisions."
