Twitter has issued a statement claiming it is expanding its enforcement of its policies violating developers from using its data to spy on its users, and from providing user information to law enforcement agencies.
The company currently allows developers worldwide to access both its Gnip enterprise data products and its Twitter Public application programming interface (API). The tools allow devs to view public tweets shared by the site’s 317 million users in real-time. Twitter’s data is used to create everything from news alerts to helpful mapping features for nonprofits and emergency services.
However, there is an insidious side to the tools being built using the platform’s public tweets, specifically the way the info is used to spy on users by surveillance companies. Just last month, it was revealed that a social media mapping tool dubbed Geofeedia was touting the “special access” it had to social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook.
Despite Twitter’s existing policies prohibiting surveillance, the ACLU had uncovered a number of emails sent by Geofeedia that alleged it had supplied its tracking data to local law enforcement in Oakland and Baltimore. Twitter responded to the findings by shutting down the company’s access to its data.
In its new statement, the company claims it has not forgotten its commitment to “social justice.” It adds: “Using Twitter’s Public APIs or data products to track or profile protesters and activists is absolutely unacceptable and prohibited.”
Twitter says that devs caught violating its policies could be suspended or have their access to its API and data products terminated. It will also examine requests to use its tools on a case-by-case basis, and withhold the right to reject all or part of a request.
The company concluded by stating the vast majority of developers respect its users, and that it appreciates the creative and innovative work they do.
Discord is trying to push more visibility on the internet for some of its biggest communities, and there's a good chance your messages could end up in a Google Search. The platform is preparing to make conversations from certain public servers searchable on the web, so there's a privacy setting you might want to check before the rollout begins.
According to Discord's official announcement, the changes will roll out in two stages. Starting November 16, qualifying servers will have public web pages featuring automated summaries of conversations. By mid-December, individual messages from eligible public channels could also appear word-for-word in Google and other search engines.
You just opened X and started typing your thoughts. Imagine the jump scare when a hand suddenly pops up on your screen, pointing at the promote button. It doesn’t say a word and simply points. For a growing number of X users, this isn’t a made-up scenario but something they have been seeing since yesterday, and very few of them are amused.
Most of us have learned to tune out the usual in-app upsells, whether it’s a glowing upgrade banner or a pop-up about a premium plan. A floating hand hovering over your draft is much harder to ignore, and that’s probably the whole point.
Scroll through any app for five minutes, and you’ll find someone maxxing something. Their skin, their sleep, their protein intake, even their Friday night on the couch. That little suffix has been everywhere this year, and now it has a trophy to show for it. In a recent announcement, Dictionary.com named maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year.
What are people actually doing when they’re maxxing?