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Privacy Rights in the Digital Age, 2nd Edition

Twitter

by Melissa A. Gill, Ian Gill

Identification: An online social networking tool that enables registered users send and read messages of up to 140 characters. Unregistered users may read the messages called Tweets, but they may not compose Tweets themselves. Users may access Twitter through a website, Short Message Service (SMS), or mobile device application. As of June 2015, Twitter has more than 300 million active monthly users and has become influential in contemporary society.

Jack Dorsey, then an undergraduate student at New York University, developed the concept of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group. He originally referred to the project as twttr. Work on this idea began in March 2006. Initially, Dorsey and contractor Florian Weber developed the first Twitter prototype as an internal service for the podcasting company Odeo and its employees. The full public version was released on July 15, 2006. When asked about the name, Dorsey explained, “[W]e came across the word ‘twitter,’ and it was just perfect. The definition was ‘a short burst of inconsequential information,’ and ‘chirps from birds.’ And that’s exactly what the product was.” Twitter’s popularity increased at the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive festival. Twitter had placed large television screens in the conference hallways to stream Twitter messages about the conference and thus allow attendees to keep in contact with each other. During that time, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 Tweets per day to 60,000 per day.

Twitter has various features, with the most obvious being the ability to create and read Tweets. The default setting is that they are visible to anyone online, but users can restrict their messages so that only followers can see them. Twitter users can Tweet from the actual Twitter website or through external devices such as apps for a smartphone. Also, users can retweet messages and subscribe to view other users’ feed, which is known as following a user. Also, Twitters may place hashtags in their Tweet. A hashtag uses the number symbol (#), and groups words together to indicate the topic of the Tweet. This also allows other users to search for Tweets by topic, and allows Twitter to list trending topics, which are popular topics shown on the sidebar of Twitter. Users may make a topic trend either by a concerted effort or because of recent events.

Users can also use web-based interfaces that allow them to post from multiple accounts, maintain various column views, track activities (like who is following the user), and schedule Tweets to be posted in the future. Users may use Twitter to direct-message one another, as long as both parties are following one another. Only the recipient, and not the general public, may see a direct message. However, the message still restricts the recipient to 140 characters.

Over the years, individuals have begun to use Twitter in various different ways. For example, people have used Twitter to organize protests and social movements, connect with celebrities, receive emergency notifications, and read news. Also, the emergence of live Tweeting has changed the way people sometimes watch television. Live Tweeting usually consists of a television show’s actor, producer or director Tweeting about the show as fans are watching it. Similarly, Twitter has changed the way fans interact with celebrities. Many celebrities have started to use Twitter to promote themselves and reach out to fans, posting updates on various topics such as where they are vacationing and promoting a new television show. Most celebrities use a verified account, which shows up as a blue check, signifying that Twitter verifies that they are who they say they are. This is important for various public figures. Holding a verified account also gives the user additional features not available to unverified users, such as the ability to receive direct messages from people they do not follow. You can Tweet at a celebrity, or other user, by using the at sign (@) in front of a username. This also means that celebrities can Tweet back at a fan, which often allows more fan access. Obviously, this can also create security and privacy risks for public figures because the general public has access to greater information about the public figure.

Live tweets as Secretary Vilsack lays out his 2012 Farm Bill priorities in a speech at the John Deere Des Moines Works. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

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Twitter has also changed how people engage in politics and elections. The 2016 election was the first election that saw the rise of twitter being used for campaigning, as well as “twitter bots” attempting to influence the election. Twitter admitted that more than 50,000 Russian linked accounts used twitter to post automated materials about the 2016 US election. In January 2018, congressional Democrats called on Twitter and Facebook to investigate the Russian influence, and the use of twitter bots.

Another development in regards twitter and privacy that has come as a result of the 2016 Presidential election, albeit indirectly, is the case of Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Trump, No. 17 Civ. 5205 (NRB) (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2018). This case, brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute on behalf of themselves and a group of other plaintiffs, argued that it was unconstitutional for users to be “blocked” from reading the personal account of President Trump, @realDonaldTrump. The lawsuit also named then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino as co-defendents.

The plaintiffs, who had been blocked from viewing the President’s account, argued that doing so breached their First Amendment rights, arguing that the account in question is a public forum. The Knight Institute, whilst not themselves banned from the account, argued that depriving them of the views of dissenters who had been blocked was similarly unconstitutional. In doing so, the plaintiffs cited the 2017 case of Packingham v. North Carolina where the Supreme Court held that twitter was “the modern public square.”

In delivering the judgment, Judge Buchwald stated that:

This case requires us to consider whether a public official may, consistent with the First Amendment, “block” a person from his Twitter account in response to the political views that person has expressed, and whether the analysis differs because that public official is the President of the United States. The answer to both questions is no.

The Judge further held that, in regard to the plaintiff’s First Amendment claims, the speech in which they seek to engage is protected by the First Amendment and that the President and Scavino exert governmental control over certain aspects of the @realDonaldTrump account, including the interactive space of the tweets sent from the account. That interactive space is susceptible to analysis under the Supreme Court’s forum doctrines, and is properly characterized as a designated public forum. The viewpoint-based exclusion of the individual plaintiffs from that designated public forum 1s proscribed by the First Amendment and cannot be justified by the President’s personal First Amendment interests.

The government has subsequently appealed the decision in this case in the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit, but a decision on this appeal has not yet been delivered.

As is true of most online services, however, privacy and the use of data are a concern. Twitter’s own website and privacy policy states: “When using any of our Services you consent to the collection, transfer, storage, disclosure, and use of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.” Also, most are aware that what you Tweet is for public view. There is an option to make your account private and to choose who sees your Tweets, but your account name is still visible to the public.

Other serious privacy issues exist. For example, Twitter collects data from you when you Tweet, but it also collects data when you visit other sites. For example, many websites have embedded Tweet buttons, which, even without Tweeting the website, alerts Twitter to the fact that you have visited the website. Twitter has admitted that it uses this information to recommend people to follow in Twitter.

In 2013, Twitter acquired MoPub, a company that places ads within various mobile apps. This creates an advantage for Twitter because it allows advertisers not only to track Internet usage but also to track it across all devices. Data security experts have also raised security concerns about this type of tracking because hackers could obtain a multitude of information through MoPub.

Twitter’s track record on privacy, however, has been stellar to date. It allows users to opt out of tracking functions and respects the do-not- track settings in browsers. Also, when government officials have attempted to subpoena Twitter users’ data, Twitter has resisted exposing the data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has even named Twitter the best large technology company for protecting data.

Further Reading

1 

Curtis, Craig R., Michael C. Gizzi, and Michael J. Kittleson. “Using Technology the Founders Never Dreamed Of: Cell Phones As Tracking Devices and the Fourth Amendment.” University of Denver Criminal Law Review 4, no. 61 (2014.

2 

Harkinson, Josh. “Here’s How Twitter Can Track You on All of your Devices.” Mother Jones, September 24, 2013.

3 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/19/twitter-admits-far-more-russian-bots-posted-on-election-than-it-had-disclosed

4 

Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, No. 1:17-cv-05205 (S.D.N.Y.) (2017)

See also: Bots; Social networking technologies

Citation Types

MLA 9th
Gill, Melissa A., and Ian Gill. "Twitter." Privacy Rights in the Digital Age, 2nd Edition, edited by Jane E. Kirtley & Michael Shally-Jensen, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=PRDA2e_0230.
APA 7th
Gill, M. A., & Gill, I. (2019). Twitter. In J. E. Kirtley & M. Shally-Jensen (Eds.), Privacy Rights in the Digital Age, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Gill, Melissa A. and Gill, Ian. "Twitter." Edited by Jane E. Kirtley & Michael Shally-Jensen. Privacy Rights in the Digital Age, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2019. Accessed May 30, 2026. online.salempress.com.