Kelsey Hightower: Do you own your own tweets?

Quote:

  So, do you own your own tweets?

  Yes. You own your content. It's a manifestation of your mind and is protected by copyright laws. A tweet is a contract between you and Twitter governed by their terms of service. Either side can terminate that contract by deleting the tweet.

This is lazy, legally incorrect, and one of those things that everyone in SV "knows" but is simply not true. It's embarrassing and I encourage anyone who wants to converse with people outside the bubble to learn the actual law.

EULAs do not circumvent US law. The US is a liberal society and you cannot enter into a contract in violation of civil rights. For example, one cannot sell themselves into slavery, whether or not a contract is given. The same people who argue Twitter should have the right to censor speech arbitrarily would not let ISPs ban speech. They would not let other private companies neglect to serve a person based upon race or gender contra the 1964 CRA either.

A more accurate assessment of Twitter's relationship with you is that Section 230 lets them have it both ways: they are indemnified for any bad content you post because that's yours, but they are also not responsible when they restrict your content either. That will be modified one way or another in the coming years, because Twitter/Facebook/etc. are the public square.

great thread on the topic of content ownership, content moderation, Twitter's business model, the nature of a user's relationship with a social media company such as Twitter.