Sunlight Foundation Criticizes Twitter's Cutoff of Access for Politwoops Website
Sunlight Foundation President Christopher Gates decried Twitter’s decision to cut off Twitter API access for the group’s Politwoops website, saying in a blog post Thursday that the action “is a reminder of how the Internet isn’t truly a public square.…
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Our shared conversations are increasingly taking place in privately owned and managed walled gardens, which means that the politics that occur in such conversations are subject to private rules.” Twitter confirmed Wednesday that it won’t “restore Twitter API access” for the Politwoops website, which tracks Tweets that politicians delete. “We strongly support Sunlight’s mission of increasing transparency in politics and using civic tech and open data to hold government accountable to constituents, but preserving deleted Tweets violates our developer agreement,” Twitter said in a statement. “Honoring the expectation of user privacy for all accounts is a priority for us, whether the user is anonymous or a member of Congress.” Sunlight created the Politweeps website “because public communications from public officials should be available to anyone who wants to see them,” Gates said. “The site isn't just about blunders, but rather revealing a more intimate perspective on our politicians and how they communicate with their constituents.” Twitter allowed Politweeps to have Twitter API access in 2012 after Sunlight pledged to “create a human curation workflow to ensure that the site screened out corrected low-value tweets like typos, links and Twitter handles,” Gates said. “We are truly mystified as to what prompted the change of heart, and it's deeply disappointing to see Twitter kill a project they had supported since 2012. … Clearly, something changed -- and we’re not likely to ever know what it was.”