Twitter would possibly lastly be delivering an , however the firm seems to have quietly altered a key means deleted tweets could be preserved. As author Kevin Marks first , the corporate modified its embedded javascript in order that the textual content of deleted tweets is not seen in embeds on outdoors web sites.

Previously, the textual content of a deleted tweet was nonetheless seen on net pages on which it had been embedded, however now Twitter is utilizing javascript to render the tweet as a clean white field. Overall, it may not appear to be a significant change on Twitter’s half, nevertheless it’s one which has important implications. Tweets from public officers, celebrities and most people are continuously embedded into information tales. Even if these tweets have been later deleted, there was a transparent report of what had been mentioned.

Now, there are untold numbers of outdated articles the place as a substitute of a tweet there’s only a clean field with out context. For instance, tweets from former President Donald Trump have been routinely cited by media organizations. Even after his account was completely suspended, the textual content of these missives was nonetheless viewable on the websites the place it had been embedded. Now, that’s not the case.

In Trump’s case, there are in depth archives of these tweets. But that’s not the case for almost all of Twitter customers, and even many public officers. And whereas it’s nonetheless technically attainable to view the textual content by disabling javascript in your browser, it’s not the form of step most individuals would know the way to do even when they knew the choice existed.

Twitter product supervisor Eleanor Harding advised Marks the change was made “to better respect when people have chosen to delete their Tweets.” A spokesperson for Twitter declined to remark additional on the change. 

Still, it’s a curious transfer as a result of, as Marks factors out in his submit, Twitter’s authentic selection to take care of the textual content of deleted tweets was an intentional selection on the a part of Twitter engineers. “If it’s deleted, or 1000 years in the future, the text remains,” former Twitter engineer Ben Ward wrote in 2011 when embedding tweets was first introduced.

That’s in keeping with statements from different twitter executives over time in regards to the significance of Twitter as a form of “public record.” For instance, former CEO Jack Dorsey mentioned he was hesitant to construct an edit button as a result of it may erode Twitter’s means to operate as a public report. “It’s really critical that we preserve that,” he mentioned on the time.