Yoel Roth

It’s unconscionable that Twitter would deploy what remains of its legal team to bully academics into paying an obscene ransom in order to keep access to essential data. https://inews.co.uk/news/twitter-researchers-delete-data-unless-pay-2364535

The best hope for stopping this is regulatory action, particularly under the DSA.

Groups like the Coalition for Independent Technology Research are helping lobby on behalf of researchers. Learn more and get involved: https://independenttechresearch.org/

Twitter is making researchers delete data it gave them unless they pay $42,000

Move to hike price of academic access compared to 'book burning' amid fears it will harm fight against misinformation online

inews.co.uk
May 25, 2023 at 5:52pmWeb
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel It makes sense however in light of Musk's insane pivot to court the right. Can't have those pesky academics writing papers that show how racist nazi crazy looney tunes the site is becoming, its bad for business.
Show threadAustin ClemensMay 25, 2023
@tezoatlipoca @yoyoel Yeah, this seems less like an attempt to raise money and more like an attempt to stop academic research on Twitter.
Show threadeyvindurMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel Unconscionable and idiotic. How is a screen shot supposed to prove data deletion? What are they looking for — an empty directory?
Show threadJesseMay 25, 2023

@yoyoel I can't help but wonder whether, more than the money, this is intended to make the changes to twitter's dialog and userbase more opaque as it continues devolving into Gab.

On another note, how common is "show screenshot as proof?" Screenshots are meaningless for this kind of thing. Is it just so, if a researcher is caught with data later, it can be used as evidence that they knowingly lied about deleting it?

Show threadtrisk!May 25, 2023
@yoyoel the rate is ridiculous, but requiring all data previously gathered to be expunged is even more ridiculous.
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel Of course, what's to provent a bunch of academics from joining together in a cooperative to pay the ~~extortion~~ exorbitant fee. "Hey, you're just three hundred PhD candidates in a trenchcoat!"
Show threadCharles OppenheimMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel this pressure may well not apply in the uk, where copyright law explicitly allows third parties to download portions of databases for non-commercial research purposes whether or not the database owner approves of such actions
Show threadMastodon MigrationMay 25, 2023

@yoyoel This is precisely why academics need to get the heck off of Twitter right now, and move in mass to Mastodon, where they actually own their own data.

See this post today on a great tool (https://find-masto-folks.vercel.app/) for finding and following academics on Mastodon: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/110430771054480878

Just do it now. It is just crazy that anyone would stay on Twitter and continue to place their content at such risk.

#academics #twittermigration

Find Academics on Mastodon

Find, browse, and follow academics on Mastodon

Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47May 25, 2023
@mastodonmigration @yoyoel This isn't an effective response. By researchers' data, we mean public data generated by the actions of other Twitter users that the researchers are studying. That means they need to go where the data is, and like it or not, it's still mostly on Twitter. It also means that if they tried to do equivalent research in the Fediverse, they'd have to deal with fragmentation issues inherent in federation, including stronger privacy protections for users.
Show threadccountMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel
Posting screenshots as proof?😆
Show threadScott ThomasMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel You will be the clarion voice that survives this chaotic intrusion to what is left of American political sanity. Carry on my friend.
Show threadThe Animal and the MachineMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel @DataDrivenMD
Why don’t Twitter’s researchers just switch to Mastodon and spend any free money they might have had on popularising it?
Show threadBeeksMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel I don't mean to side with the fascist megalomaniac, but is there a law or right I'm unaware of that grants them access to Twitter's data?
Show threadSiguzaMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel the best hope for stopping this is bankruptcy.
Show threadshyduroffMay 25, 2023
@yoyoel … alas, this one vls zero surprise …
Show threadO! ver May 25, 2023
@yoyoel That's not they want more money. They the Twitter zone to be unmonitored, so that they can spread misinformation and cancel oponent voices.
They want a naive public.
Show threadProtectiveHenMay 26, 2023
@yoyoel #misinformation is the topic of a current #NobelPrize summit. At a session today, #JoanDonovan and others spoke to the need to regulate for researcher and NGO access to data. https://www.nobelprize.org/events/nobel-prize-summit/2023
Nobel Prize Summit

Nobel Prize SummitTruth, Trust and Hope 24-26 May 2023Washington, DCIn-person and virtual How can we build trust in truth, facts and scientific evidence so that we can create a hopeful future for all? Misinformation is eroding our trust in science and runs the risk of becoming one of the greatest threats to our society today. […]

NobelPrize.org
Show threadottoMay 26, 2023
@yoyoel the relevance of this "data" eludes me. I might define some tweets as "evidence" however.
Show threadMichael HöflerMay 26, 2023
@yoyoel maybe interesting for your podcast, @gavinkarlmeier
Show threadRodger A. PayneMay 26, 2023

@yoyoel

At last someone has established a fixed price on "free" speech.

</sarcasm>