Website that saved deleted tweets of politicians closed

The site that could help you nail politicians' lies vis-a-vis their tweeted stand on a social or political issue will no longer be around, The Verge reported.

Twitter has decided to shut down Politwoops, which was launched in 2012 with the aim of saving deleted tweets by politicians.

The sudden decision has left people at Sunlight Foundation -- that conceived the project -- stunned.

According to a statement released by Sunlight Foundation, Twitter decided that Politwoops had violated the company's terms of service "on a fundamental level" and decided to have it removed.

The Sunlight Foundation says they are unable to appeal the decision, but have decided to "honour Twitter's latest decision", despite working out issues with the company in 2012.

"We are truly mystified as to what prompted the change of heart, and it's deeply disappointing to see Twitter kill a project they had supported since 2012."

"It is also disturbing to us that our feed was cut almost three weeks ago and our only direct communication came from Twitter last night, when we were told that their decision was not something that we could appeal, and, most surprisingly, they were not interested in reviewing any of the e-mail conversation from 2012," the statement added.

This is not the first time Twitter has shut down a programme for a terms of service violation, and is not likely to be the last, but the shutdown raises some interesting issues.

According to media reports, Twitter said that honouring user privacy was a priority for them, "whether the user is anonymous or a member of the Congress".

However, Sunlight Foundation did not buy the argument, saying a member of Congress could not have the same expectation of privacy as a private citizen.

"Power can only be accountable with a generous application of transparency," it said.