Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2022
Dispute over Elon Musk's acquisition agreement
Musk attempted to withdraw from the agreed acquisition, citing concerns including the prevalence of automated and spam accounts. Twitter sued to enforce the agreement, and the matter ended when Musk completed the purchase in October 2022.
2021
Twitter faces criticism over Pelosi tweet moderation
Public backlash
In January 2021, Twitter users criticized the platform over its handling of a 2017 tweet by Nancy Pelosi that resurfaced and remained available on the site. The users described the moderation as inconsistent, contrasting the continued availability of the Pelosi tweet with Twitter's suspension of Donald Trump's account. The criticism centered on the platform's moderation standards rather than on any specific action taken regarding the Pelosi tweet.
Twitter users criticized the platform for what they described as inconsistent moderation after a 2017 Nancy Pelosi tweet resurfaced and remained available, contrasting it with Twitter's suspension of Donald Trump's account.
Company response
Clarification — Twitter
The operator of the popular microblogging platform said it will now focus on “context, not fact-checking” when deciding whether to rule a tweet to be in violation of its policies.
Source excerpt
Netizens have accused Twitter of double standards, reacting angrily to a resurfaced tweet by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from May 2017 and containing claims the 2016 US presidential election "was hijacked".
Many Twitter users questioned the social media platform's consistency, arguing that Pelosi's tweet "incites violence", something used by Twitter as a pretext to permanently suspend US President Donald Trump's personal account last week.
“We are NOT attempting to address all misinformation,” Twitter says in one of the messages, posted under its Twitter Safety banner.
2021
Twitter withholds tweets in India after government request
Issue disclosure
Twitter withheld some tweets critical of the Indian government's handling of the pandemic after a legal request from the Indian government. Lawmakers and rights activists criticized the removals, saying they risked public health and freedom of speech.
Source excerpt
Twitter withheld some tweets after a legal request by the Indian government, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday.
Lawmakers and rights activists say removals risk people’s health and harms freedom of speech
2021
Twitter faces backlash over Project Veritas account suspensions
Public backlash
Twitter faced criticism after permanently suspending Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe and banning the Project Veritas account. The article reports criticism of the suspensions and accusations that Twitter was protecting CNN; these are reported as allegations and reactions, not established findings.
Source excerpt
The @Project_Veritas account was also recently banned.
Twitter has been slammed for permanently suspending Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe from the platform over his purported use of “fake accounts” on the platform amid the conservative watchdog’s “Expose CNN” campaign.
2021
Appeals court upholds dismissal of Pulse shooting lawsuit against social media companies
Ruling
A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleged Twitter, Google and Facebook should be held liable for the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. The court stated that the plaintiffs had not shown the attack was international terrorism as defined by law.
A federal appeals court upheld dismissal of a lawsuit alleging Twitter, Google and Facebook should be held liable for the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre. The court said plaintiffs had not shown the attack was international terrorism as defined by law.
Source excerpt
A federal appeals court Monday rejected a lawsuit alleging that Twitter, Google and Facebook should be held liable in the 2016 massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub after Islamic State social-media posts radicalized shooter Omar Mateen.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed by victims and estates of victims in the shooting that killed 49 people and wounded dozens of others at the LGBT club.
The ruling focused heavily on whether the plaintiffs had proven that Twitter, Google-owned YouTube and Facebook “aided and abetted” Mateen in violation of a federal law known as the Anti-Terrorism Act. The court’s 31-page ruling said the plaintiffs did not show that the attack was an act of international terrorism as defined under the law.
2021
Moscow court fines Facebook and Twitter over prohibited content
Fine or penalty
In a controversy noted in the brand wiki, a Moscow court fined Facebook 21 million roubles and Twitter 5 million roubles for failing to delete content prohibited by Russian law. The ruling was reported on 14 September 2021. The court action concerned the companies' non-removal of content that Russian law prohibits. The event is recorded as a regulatory penalty against both platforms, with the fine amounts differing between the two companies.
Source excerpt
Facebook was handed fines totalling 21 million roubles (about $288,000) while Twitter received fines of a total 5 million roubles (about $70,000).
A Moscow court has fined social media companies Facebook and Twitter for failing to delete content prohibited by Russian law, Zulfiya Gurinchuk, press secretary of the Moscow’s Tagansky District court, told RAPSI.
俄罗斯一家法院周二(9月14日)表示,已对美国社交媒体公司脸书(Facebook)和推特(Twitter)处以罚款,原因是它们未能删除被莫斯科指定为非法的内容。
2021
Russian court fines Twitter, Meta and TikTok over content
Fine or penalty
A Moscow court fined Twitter, Meta Platforms and TikTok for failing to delete content the Russian government deems illegal. Meta was fined 13 million roubles across three cases, Twitter 10 million across two cases, and TikTok 4 million.
Source excerpt
Moscow's Tagansky District Court said Meta Platforms had been fined a total of 13 million roubles ($176,926) in three separate administrative cases for not deleting content. Twitter was fined 10 million roubles across two cases, while TikTok received a 4 million rouble penalty, according to Russian news agencies.
Russia fined Twitter, Facebook owner Meta Platforms and TikTok on Thursday for failing to delete content the government deems illegal, a Moscow court said, the latest in a string of penalties against foreign technology firms.
2021
Twitter appeals French court order on hate-speech documents
Lawsuit filed
Twitter appealed a French court decision ordering it to give activists full access to relevant documents about its efforts to fight hate speech. A hearing was set for December 9, 2021.
Source excerpt
Twitter has appealed a French court decision that ordered it to give activists full access to all of its relevant documents on efforts to fight hate speech, lawyers and a judicial source said on Saturday.
Twitter has appealed the decision and a hearing has been set for December 9, 2021, a judicial source told AFP, confirming information released by the groups' lawyers.
2021
Moscow court fined Twitter for failing to remove illegal data
Fine or penalty
A Moscow court fined Twitter nearly $116,000 in three cases concerning its failure to remove information alleged to breach Russian law. The court said the fine was payable within sixty days.
Source excerpt
"The court found Twitter guilty under Part 2 of Art. 13.41. Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the procedure for restricting access to information, access to which is subject to restrictions in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation) and sentenced it [Twitter] to a fine of 3.2 million rubles," the press service said.
The Tagansky District court in Moscow has fined Twitter 3.2 mln rubles ($41,978) due to the social network's refusal to delete calls on minors to take part in an unauthorized campaign, the court’s press service told TASS.
A Russian court fined Twitter a total of 8.9 million roubles ($116,800, €99,300) on Friday over accusations that the service had failed to delete illegal content.
2021
Twitter reactivates French teenager's account after admitting suspension error
Company response
After suspending French teenager Mila's account, Twitter reactivated it on Monday morning and acknowledged that the suspension was a mistake.
Company response
Clarification — Twitter
The US-based company admitted to AFP news agency that it had "made a mistake" and that the suspension decision was "cancelled".
Remediation — Twitter
The social network initially claimed Mila had violated its harassment rules but Mila's account was eventually reactivated on Monday morning.
Source excerpt
The social network initially claimed Mila had violated its harassment rules but Mila's account was eventually reactivated on Monday morning.
The US-based company admitted to AFP news agency that it had "made a mistake" and that the suspension decision was "cancelled".
Twitter briefly suspended on Sunday the Twitter account of Mila, a French teenager who has faced online harassment and death threats since she posted a viral video criticising Islam last year.
2021
Texas Attorney General investigates Twitter's content moderation
Investigation
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into Twitter's decision to ban Donald Trump and sent the company a civil investigative demand seeking documents about its internal decision-making.
Stated objective. Obtain a ruling that Twitter's decision is protected by the First Amendment and halt Paxton's investigation.
Source excerpt
Paxton decided to open an investigation over that decision and sent Twitter a civil investigative demand. The demand asks for documents from Twitter that show the company’s internal decision-making processes for banning users.
In the lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California on Monday, Twitter said the legal action was to stop Paxton from harassing the company in retaliation for its content-moderation decisions he may disagree with.
Twitter filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in California federal court. The lawsuit asks the judge to stop Paxton from investigating the company.
2021
Russia sues social media platforms over protest content
Lawsuit filed
Russian authorities sued Twitter, Google, Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, alleging that the platforms failed to delete posts urging children to take part in illegal protests. The report said each violation could be punishable by a fine of up to 4 million roubles.
Source excerpt
Twitter, Google, Facebook each have three cases against them, with each violation punishable by a fine of up to 4 million roubles and cases have also been filed against TikTok and Telegram, the report said.
Russian authorities are suing five social media platforms for allegedly failing to delete posts urging children to take part in illegal protests, the Interfax news agency cited a Moscow court as saying on Tuesday.
Russian authorities are suing five social media platforms for allegedly failing to delete posts urging children to take part in illegal protests, the Interfax news agency cited a Moscow court as saying on Tuesday, foreign media reported.
2021
Twitter faces lawsuit alleging it allowed child sexual abuse material to circulate
Lawsuit filed
A lawsuit alleged that Twitter knowingly benefited from participation in a sex-trafficking venture involving a minor and that videos circulated on the platform. The allegations are reported as claims in the lawsuit, not as established findings.
Source excerpt
Now, a recent lawsuit has alleged that the platform may have allowed child pornography to circulate.
The lawsuit alleged that Twitter “knowingly benefited from participation in what it knew or should have known was a sex trafficking venture,” of a minor, who is referred to in court documents under the pseudonym John Doe.
has sued Twitter for facilitating his sexual abuse by refusing to remove “sexual exploitation material” from the platform.
2021
Donald Trump sues to restore his Twitter account
Lawsuit filed
Donald Trump filed suit in Florida seeking a preliminary injunction of Twitter’s ban while seeking to have his account permanently reinstated.
Stated objective. Have his Twitter account permanently reinstated
Source excerpt
The former president has filed suit in Florida seeking a preliminary injunction of the ban, while he works towards having his account permanently reinstated.
Former president and Florida resident Donald Trump is suing Twitter in an attempt to get his account back, reports The Verge. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the Southern District of Florida, seeks to grant the failed blogger immediate temporary access to his account
Donald Trump is claiming his permanent ban from the private company's social media platform is illegal censorship.
2020
Twitter apologises and says it rectified discriminatory ad targeting
Company response
Twitter apologised after its advertising tools allowed ads to be targeted using sensitive or discriminatory terms, including terms associated with hate groups. The company said the terms had been permitted in error and that it rectified the issue after becoming aware of it.
Company response
Apology — Twitter
We're very sorry this happened
Remediation — Twitter
as soon as we were made aware of the issue, we rectified it.
Source excerpt
We're very sorry this happened and as soon as we were made aware of the issue, we rectified it.
Twitter has apologised for allowing adverts to be micro-targeted at certain users such as neo-Nazis, homophobes and other hate groups.
In this instance, some of these terms were permitted for targeting purposes. This was an error.
2020
Russian court fines Twitter over data-law noncompliance
Fine or penalty
A Russian court fined Twitter 4 million roubles for failing to comply with a Russian data law, according to a report. The court cited Twitter's refusal to place its server holding data about Russian citizens on Russian territory. The report did not specify further details of the proceedings or any response from Twitter.
Source excerpt
Twitter has also been fined a similar amount for also refusing to comply with the data law.
The Tagansky District Court in Moscow fined Twitter for its refusal to put its server holding data about Russian citizens on Russian territory.
A Russian court on Thursday fined social media company Twitter (TWTR.N) 4 million roubles ($62,845) for its failure to comply with a Russian data law, the RIA news agency reported.
2020
Twitter apologizes for unrelated COVID-19 labels
Company response
Twitter apologized after unrelated tweets were given COVID-19 misinformation labels. The company said it was working to make its labeling process more precise, acknowledging the confusion caused by the misplaced labels. The incident involved tweets that were not related to COVID-19 but nonetheless received labels intended to flag misinformation about the virus.
After unrelated tweets received COVID-19 misinformation labels, Twitter apologized for the confusion and said it was working to make its labeling process more precise.
Stated objective. Show fewer labels on unrelated tweets.
Company response
Apology — Twitter
We apologize for any confusion and we’re working to improve our labeling process
Remediation — Twitter
we’re working to improve our labeling process
Source excerpt
“In the last few weeks, you may have seen tweets with labels linking to additional info about covid-19. Not all of those tweets had potentially misleading content associating covid-19 and 5G. We apologize for any confusion and we’re working to improve our labeling process,” Twitter Support tweeted on Saturday.
As we improve this process to be more precise, our goal is to show fewer labels on unrelated tweets.
Twitter has apologized for accidentally labeling some tweets about the coronavirus pandemic and 5G as misleading content.
2020
Twitter discloses business-client data exposure
Issue disclosure
Twitter disclosed a security lapse in which business users' billing information may have been stored in a browser cache and exposed. The compromised data included email addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit card numbers. Twitter stated that it had resolved the issue and notified potentially affected clients.
Twitter said business users' billing information may have been stored in a browser cache and exposed in a security lapse. The compromised data included email addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit card numbers. Twitter said it resolved the issue and notified potentially affected clients.
Company response
Apology — Twitter
Twitter has apologised for a data breach that affected its business clients and exposed their personal data to hackers.
Remediation — Twitter
As soon as we discovered this was happening, we resolved the issue and communicated to potentially impacted clients to make sure they were aware and informed on how to protect themselves moving forward
Source excerpt
Twitter has apologized after exposing private information of business users as reported by the BBC.
The company has said that it was aware of the breach back on May 20 and has since fixed the problem.
The personal data includes email addresses, phone numbers. Most worryingly it also includes and the last four digits of clients’ credit card numbers.
2020
Twitter apologises over accessibility gaps in voice Tweets
Company response
Twitter apologised after concerns were raised that voice Tweets lacked support for people who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing. The company said it was exploring transcription options and considering a dedicated accessibility team. The event was reported on 19 June 2020.
After concerns that voice Tweets lacked support for people who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, Twitter apologised and said it was exploring transcription options and considering a dedicated accessibility team.
Company response
Apology — Twitter
Twitter went on to apologise for testing voice tweets without support for people who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing.
Remediation — Twitter
Twitter said that it is exploring ideas for how the platform could support manual and auto transcriptions, and is looking at how it can build a dedicated team to focus on accessibility, tooling and advocacy across all products.
Source excerpt
The company also said it is "exploring ideas for how we could support manual and auto transcriptions," and has updates planned that will make voice tweets more accessible for people with vision impairments.
Twitter has promised it will do more to make its feature accessible after widespread criticism of its new voice note feature.
Some Twitter users responded to the company’s apology and called for the proposed dedicated accessibility group to be led by people with disabilities.
2020
Facebook and Twitter remove Trump-related COVID-19 posts
Issue disclosure
Facebook removed a post from Donald Trump's personal page, and Twitter removed a post from Trump's campaign team, citing rules against false COVID-19 information. Twitter also barred the campaign from posting new tweets until it stopped posting the violating content.
Source excerpt
兩個帖文同時遭Facebook 和 Twitter 指內容觸犯散播有關疫情虛假消息的守則。
推特則禁止特朗普競選團隊發佈新帖文,直至競選團隊停止發佈違規帖文為止。
Facebook 在昨天移除特朗普個人專頁帖文、Twitter 晚上同樣移除特朗普競選團隊的帖文。