Compliance Management, Privacy, Threat Management

Twitter blocks API access for Diplotwoops website

Although its U.S. service was banned in May, the Open State Foundation (OSF) has lost access to the remaining 30 countries it monitored through Diplotwoops and Poltiwoops websites.

OSF used Twitter's API to monitor the accounts of diplomats, politicians and embassies then automatically detect and post deleted tweets. The U.K., Egypt, Tunisia and Greece are among the countries whose politicians' Twitter accounts will not be monitored.

Twitter suspended Politwoops' access after a “thoughtful internal deliberation and close consideration of a number of factors,” a press release stated.

Politwoops was created during a 2010 hackathon; later OSF built it into a “useful tool for journalists.”

OSF Director Arjan El Fassed said: “What politicians say in public should be available to anyone. This is not about typos but is a unique insight on how messages from elected politicians can change without notice.”

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