Twitter, Now Known as X, Clamps Down on Data Usage Amid AI Concerns
X, under Elon Musk's ownership, is implementing stricter rules and policies to prevent unauthorized data scraping and ensure responsible data usage in AI model training
X, previously known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, has made significant changes to its terms of service to explicitly ban scraping and crawling activities on its platform. The revised terms, effective from September 29, state that any form of scraping or crawling without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. This move is believed to be aimed at preventing AI models from training on X’s data without authorization.
NOTE: crawling or scraping the Services in any form, for any purpose without our prior written consent is expressly prohibited.
Previously, X allowed crawling in accordance with the instructions given in its robots.txt file. However, Twitter has altered this file in recent months, removing instructions for all crawler bots except Google. It remains uncertain whether this change affects the existing firehose deal Twitter had with Google, which allowed tweets to appear in search results.
“crawling the Services is permissible if done in accordance with the provisions of the robots.txt file, however, scraping the Services without our prior consent is expressly prohibited,” it read.
Notably, X has also updated its robots.txt file to prevent crawlers from accessing specific post-related information like likes and retweets, as well as an account’s likes, media, and photos. These measures indicate X’s commitment to protecting its users’ data from unauthorized access and use.
This isn’t the first time Elon Musk has taken measures to safeguard X’s data. In April, he threatened legal action against Microsoft for allegedly using the social network’s data without permission to train AI models. In July, Musk filed a lawsuit against unknown entities involved in scraping X’s data.
Earlier this month, X revised its privacy policy to state that publicly available data, including tweets, may be utilized for AI model training. Musk had previously mentioned that xAI, a company founded in July, would leverage public data for training its models. Furthermore, X’s updated privacy policy includes provisions for collecting users’ biometric data, as well as details about their education and job history.
By implementing stricter regulations and actively monitoring unauthorized scraping and crawling activities, X aims to safeguard its valuable data while ensuring the privacy and security of its users. These measures demonstrate X’s commitment to maintaining a trusted and protected platform.
