The US version, managed by Sunlight Foundation, ceased operations back in May, but sites operating in other countries continued. But according to OSF, Twitter cut off the API access for those remaining sites. The new policy went into effect on Friday, August 21st.
Twitter representatives reportedly explained to OSF that they didn't distinguish between politicians and regular users of the social media site. They added that the decision was made after "thoughtful internal deliberation and close consideration of a number of factors."
"Imagine how nerve-racking — terrifying, even — tweeting would be if it was immutable and irrevocable?" Twitter reportedly explained. "No one user is more deserving of that ability than another. Indeed, deleting a tweet is an expression of the user's voice."
The President of Sunlight Foundation Chris Gates condemned Twitter's decision.
"Our perspective is that elected officials and candidates are public figures, who don't have the same expectation of privacy as a private individual," he said. "Unfortunately, what we've learned is that public tweets don't belong to the public."
The Diplotwoops site, launched in 2014 and dedicated to screening deleted tweets from diplomats and embassies, was also shut down.
"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." OSF director Arjan El Fassed said, according to the Verge.
Politwoops began in the Netherlands in 2010 and soon spread internationally, launching sites in Canada, Egypt, South Korea, the UK and a number of other countries.
OSF said it will continue to seek ways to highlight the shifting language used by politicians.
