Twitter is under fire over a recent update of its terms of service. Users vented their anger over a particular clause introduced by the microblogging site which seems to suggest that Twitter will now have the right to republish any user content and make it available to other parties without giving any compensation to the original user who made the post.
The clause, which appears below, had people fuming when it caught the eye of a user who then reposted it on the platform:
“You agree that this licence includes the right for Twitter to provide, promote, and improve the Services and to make Content submitted to or through the Services available to other companies, organisations or individuals for the syndication, broadcast, distribution, promotion or publication of such content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such content use.”
In a post that became viral, user Richard de Nooy, who noticed the new clause, re-posted the Your Rights section of Twitter’s updated terms and conditions. Nooy called the clause “un-f***ing-believable” and “grotesque” especially for those who post original content, a sentiment that was echoed by many of the platform’s users.
However, the conditions are not actually new, according to The Independent. Apparently, it is already part of the platform’s terms and conditions for some time now but has recently resurfaced when Twitter made a few changes in other areas.
People are terrified about Twitter’s new terms of service https://t.co/mKNbKxZIRY
— The Independent (@Independent) September 4, 2017
The “offending” clauses are in place to allow Twitter to continue supporting some of the platform’s well-used features such as the embedding of tweets as well as their use in TV broadcasts. In addition, Twitter is not known to have sold any content posted by users and the conditions are just meant to allow sharing and re-tweeting of posts made by others, which is the whole point of social media.
So this happened: my tweet went viral, prompting responses ranging from angry/concerned support to “you should’ve/could’ve known.” 1/13 https://t.co/ecJV0xA0At
— Richard de Nooy (@RicharddeNooy) September 3, 2017
Did ya’ll read twitter new terms of service agreement? They can sublicense anything we post; including our photos, threads, ideas etc.
— Nande N (@nandnz) September 2, 2017
I really don’t like the new Twitter Terms of Service. The “we own everything now” part made me cringe so bad —
— naty (@liamaliks) September 1, 2017
Did we all just get the new Twitter terms of service? pic.twitter.com/WinnNyoZKZ
— Halo (@EatMyHalo) September 1, 2017
Anyone posting intellectual property or creative work here might want to look at Twitter’s new terms of service. https://t.co/DluEUCgu0l pic.twitter.com/6voF2ssSfx
— Laura Waddell (@lauraewaddell) September 1, 2017
But there are actually new changes to Twitter’s terms and conditions. Under the new conditions, the portion stating that “Twitter respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users of the service to do the same” was removed. Instead, it was replaced by a clause allowing Twitter to delete posts that violate its rules.
[Featured Image via Twitter]