The social networking platform can be said to be acting in its own best interest, but Twitter has locked down access to Diplotwoops and Politwoops in 30 more countries.
Politwoops began in the Netherlands in 2010 by sifting through deleted messages from diplomats and embassies around the world. It has since been further developed by the Open State Foundation, and has spread to 30 countries, from Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, the United Kingdom, and France to the Vatican and the European Parliament. In all of these locations, the profiles of elected members of national parliaments were automatically checked for deleted tweets and made them visible. The Open State Foundation launched Diplotwoops in 2014.
The no-confidence action by Twitter began on May 15, 2015, when it suspended API access for the US version of Politwoops because it displayed deleted tweets from US lawmakers. On August 21, Open Open State was notified by Twitter that it had suspended API access for Diplotwoops and all other Politwoops sites in 30 countries.
The Open State Foundation says it was informed by Twitter that its decision to shut down the business followed a “thoughtful internal consultation and close consideration of a number of factors, and that it does not discriminate among its users.” Twitter was noted as saying: “Imagine how much anguish and terror even tweeting would create if it were immutable and irrevocable? No user deserves to have that ability more than another. Indeed, deleting a tweet is an expression of the user’s voice.”
The Open State Foundation is critical of Twitter’s statement. “What elected officials say publicly is a matter of public interest. Even when tweets are deleted, this is part of the parliamentary story,” said Arjan El Fassed, director of the Open Government Foundation. “These tweets were once posted and then deleted. What politicians say publicly should be available to everyone. These are not mistakes, but this is a unique insight into how messages from elected politicians can change without warning.”
The Open Government Foundation assured its supporters that it would continue to investigate and work with others to keep public messages from elected politicians visible. It added that the public has rights guaranteed by many constitutions to access information that was at least temporarily in the public domain.
