🗯️Thread on potentially anticompetitive shutdown by Twitter of third-party app ecosystem. Shout out to @tweetbot @buffer @mttvll and all the other app developers left with their business broken #Twitter 1/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615076994105966601
Last week, the API provided by Twitter allowing third-party software to interact with the social network was shut down. Many SMEs and indie developers had built their businesses around this API, and the entire ecosystem is rendered inoperational. 2/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615076996215701509
These 3rd party app developpers had brought Twitter to where it was as a social media. For decades API access spurred the development of a commercial ecosystem of third-party apps built around Twitter. And provided superior user control and experience. 3/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615076998040399872
The shutdown is a disaster for these companies like #Tweetbot, Buffer, and #Twitterific; but also for indie developers, like Matteo Villa, who developed Fenix, a popular third-party Twitter client. 4/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615077000904933379
The shutdown is also a disaster for users of the apps both commercial and private, who organised their Twitter use via these applications, which provide extra features, higher level of user control of the information than what is provided by Twitter itself. 5/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615077002880352256
Twitter has - to this date - not yet provided an explanation, or even publicly commented on the matter, and leaked internal messages indicate the shutdown was intentional has been reported by the digital news outlet "@TheInformation" Saturday. 6/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615077005141180419
Digital Market Act comes into force in May require "gatekeepers" to allow third parties to inter-operate with their services. Recent actions are going directly against the intentions of the DMA, and a like anticompetitive shutdown by Twitter of a third-party app ecosystem. 7/
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615077006814707712
This is why, I’ve asked the Commission the following questions:
Could Twitter be designated a Gatekeeper under the DMA following qualitative assessment?
If so would the API shutdown breach the DMA?
What can be done today to prevent anti-competitive behaviour by Twitter? 8/8
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/karmel80/status/1615077008962191365
