A Short Summary of Twitter Terms and Conditions
Last week we looked at the Terms and Conditions of Facebook. This week we look at the Terms and Conditions of Twitter. What personal information are you giving up to use this platform?
Like Facebook, Twitter has a minimum user age of 13. When we tried to open an account using a birth date of a person younger than 13, Twitter does not allow one to open the account. However, if you use a birthdate of a person or entity older than 13, you can open an account. Twitter allows users to use pseudonyms should they prefer as opposed to Facebook which encourages the use of real names.
Twitter enables you to search and view information on public Twitter profiles even if you don’t have an account. However, to upload and share information, you must open an account. Twitter allows you to create and manage different accounts to express different parts of your identity. So, what does Twitter require in exchange for you to use their platform?
Firstly, Twitter makes it unequivocally clear that you are responsible for your use of their services and for any content you provide. You should also post content that you are comfortable sharing with others. Twitter further provides its users a warning that they may be exposed to content that one might find offensive, harmful, inaccurate, or deceptive. The content posted is the sole responsibility of whomever posted it. Essentially, it is up to you to verify whether the information you are exposed to is accurate or constitutes “fake news”.
Twitter does reserve the right to remove any content that violates the user agreement for instance intellectual property violations or harassment. Another similarity with Facebook is that as a content creator, you retain your rights to any content you submit, post or display. However, when you submit, post, or display any content on the platform, you grant Twitter a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, display, and distribute the content amongst others. This license authorises Twitter to distribute the content worldwide.
Twitter expects of you as a user to represent and warrant that you have all rights, licenses, consents, permissions, power and/authority required for any content that you post. For all these services that Twitter provides, all they ask, in addition to original content, is your agreement for them to show you advertisements on the platform. The advertisements are not as targeted as Facebook and seemingly, the collection of information from users is not as intense as Facebook. Twitter appears to be more about encouraging engagement and discourse whilst Facebook monetises its membership extensively.
Stay tuned on all our social media platforms and find out what surprising terms and conditions Netflix and Tinder have. We are sure they will give new meaning to the phrase “Netflix and Chill”.
Written by: Tumelo Mashabela, Managing Director and Registered Patent Attorney
For all your IP, commercial and corporate law services, please contact us on 012 942 8710 / info@tm-attorneys.africa. You can also find us on social media platforms with the handle @TshayaMashabelaAttorneys (@TshayaMashabela on Twitter).
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