Twitter Announces Deal To Revive Politwoops

Political gaffes on Twitter will once again be preserved on the website Politwoops, according to an announcement from Twitter.

The company blocked API access for Politwoops earlier this year, a move that apparently crippled the service’s ability to archive politicians’ deleted tweets. A number of open government and human rights groups (and not just the ones operating the various Politwoops sites in different countries) criticized the decision, arguing that a citizens’ right to information outweighs an “official’s right to retroactively edit.”

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Then in October, at Twitter’s Flight conference for developers, CEO Jack Dorsey both apologized for “the confusion” and hinted that Politwoops might be re-enabled, saying, “We have a responsibility to continue to power organizations who want to bring transparency like Politwoops.”

Today, Twitter says it has reached an agreement with The Sunlight Foundation (which operates the Politwoops site in the US) and The Open State Foundation (which first developed the service). It doesn’t offer any details about the agreement,, but the gist is that Politwoops is coming back.

“Politwoops is an important tool for holding our public officials, including candidates and elected or appointed public officials, accountable for the statements they make, and we’re glad that we’ve been able to reach an agreement with Twitter to bring it back online both in the US and internationally,” said Sunlight Foundation communications director Jenn Topper in a statement.