Twitter Circles Bug Shows Private Posts to Strangers

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Will Young

Recently, a bug has caused private tweets shared within Twitter Circles to show up on public timelines. Twitter Circles are groups of users who can share tweets exclusively with each other, much like Instagram’s Close Friends feature. However, as reported by TechCrunch, tweets intended for private Circles are now being shared with a wider audience than intended.

Users have reported that these private tweets are appearing on the For You timeline of users who follow the Circle tweet poster but are not in their Circle. Some Twitter users have also reported Circle tweets appearing on their timelines despite not even following the poster. One user noted on Twitter that someone they weren’t even following was able to see a private Circle tweet they had posted, adding that “this hurts trust in the platform a lot.”

BuzzFeed News spoke with Twitter user Adam Moussa, who first noticed that a tweet he had posted to his Circles group had spread to a wider audience after receiving a notification that someone he didn’t know had liked it. This is a concerning bug, especially for those who value privacy and want to share sensitive information within smaller, trusted groups.

Twitter introduced Circles last year, describing the feature as a way to “make it easier to have more intimate conversations and build closer connections with select followers.” However, this latest bug has made some users question the safety and reliability of Twitter’s privacy features.

Given that private tweets have been inadvertently shared with a wider audience, some users may be hesitant to use Circles for sensitive or confidential conversations, as they can no longer be sure if their messages are truly private. This bug can potentially have severe consequences for users who rely on Twitter for work, such as journalists and activists.

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It’s also worth noting that Twitter’s reputation for privacy has been under scrutiny for some time. In 2019, the social media giant admitted to inadvertently sharing users’ location data with advertisers. More recently, Twitter was criticized for not protecting users’ private data during the SolarWinds hack. While Twitter has made efforts to improve its privacy practices, this latest bug has raised concerns about whether the platform can truly be trusted with users’ private information.

As of now, Twitter has not responded to requests for comment on the bug. Given the severity of the issue, it’s crucial that Twitter addresses the problem as soon as possible and takes steps to ensure that private tweets are indeed kept private. If users cannot trust Twitter to keep their information secure, they may turn to other social media platforms that are perceived as more reliable when it comes to privacy.

In conclusion, the recent bug in Twitter’s Circle feature that caused private tweets to show up on public timelines has raised serious concerns about the safety and reliability of the platform’s privacy features. Given Twitter’s troubled history when it comes to protecting users’ private information, it’s imperative that the company takes immediate action to address this issue and rebuild users’ trust in its platform.

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