Why twitter’s “new” terms of service are making people mad

Why twitter’s “new” terms of service are making people mad

Kampala, Uganda | LOUIS JADWONG | Twitter has made some changes to its terms of service (ToS) for its users that take effect in October.

The terms of service restate that once content is posted on online news and social networking service twitter, it can be reused by others. News organizations, other companies and individuals can already use content found on the site, as it is public and is already considered FAIR USE.

Other than breaking up the terms of service into two, for those in the US for which it is already in effect, and those outside the US from October 2, and adding a new address that is in Europe, the rest of the TOs have been in place.

“Most users probably never read the old terms of service, they seem to assume that everything in the “new” terms of services is actually ‘new’,” wrote techcrunch.com’s Sarah Buhr.

Your terms of service agreement is un-fucking-believable, @Twitter. This is grotesque. Especially for users posting original content. pic.twitter.com/yEE8xly0kJ

— Richard de Nooy (@RicharddeNooy) September 2, 2017

The TOS, state that, “You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. What’s yours is yours — you own your Content (and your photos and videos are part of the Content). By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).”

As soon as we post – we do so of our own accord & everything we post is license free. In other words anyone can disseminate our stuff.

— Nande N (@nandnz) September 2, 2017

The TOS go on to state that, “This license authorizes us to make your Content available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same. You agree that this license 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, organizations 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. Such additional uses by Twitter, or other companies, organizations or individuals, may be made with no compensation paid to you with respect to the Content that you submit, post, transmit or otherwise make available through the Services.”

This section is not new or changed in any way, and is standard for a social network which allows content to be embedded or re-used elsewhere https://t.co/OsLdXzLejC

— Alex Hern (@alexhern) September 2, 2017

Changes that will actually go into effect, with these new ToS  according to techcrunch.com , include changes in the language around the right to remove content that violates Twitter’s user agreement, removal of certain limitations of liability such as Twitter user’s liability in access to “as-is” content that could be damaging and an addition of a 30-day notice of changes to the terms that impact others rights of others (which was previously only a promise).

Twitter’s terms of service are making people freak out — but they’re not new https://t.co/Rt0u8cWbqb

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) September 2, 2017