Reposting content on X is a DMCA Violation.

[Warren Faidley]

Had my X account locked for a day because I reposted a post. That's right, just like everyone does millions of times a day. Most upsetting, X allows and even encourages people to repost. Their entire monetary and publicity structure is built on that. I'm stunned there has been no class action process taken against them.

Now it appears, abusers and cons have found an easy way to target X members. X is officially a crock of S__T.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2001675270709997707

 

[Dan Robinson]

X's system and ethics are just completely out of whack. It's like they have the same concept of copyright as a 14-year old on TikTok. That said, this is probably at least partially the fault of the claimant in getting the URL wrong in their takedown, which has been known to happen in other cases. If they copy-and-paste the URL of a retweeter instead of the original, the takedown might go through if the employee who is processing it doesn't check like they should. Of course that job might be handled by an AI bot now, which might explain why it this mistake is happening more.

I think a counter-notification would be appropriate here.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I just spoke to an attorney about this issue. Twitter has a host of protections that allows them to do this. The most basic is risk-shifting and their agreement, that basically nixes any class-action lawsuits. They also hide behind safe harbor protections. It's rather sickening to ponder they profit off repostings with the knowledge individuals may be violating DMCA laws. They can simply suspend your account if you complain.

The easiest way to defeat social media abuse would be to change the safe harbor and risk-shifting laws. I don't see this happening under the current, pro-business administration, but if someone, like Gavin Newsome is elected, he might be in position to spank X's butt, giving his history with Elon.

Social media may appear like the indestructible Death Star, but they do have a weakness. One could theoretically argue unfair or deceptive practices, bad-faith DMCA handling and failure to reasonably implement a repeat infringer policy. You would have to piss-off a lot of people to get anything done, and most people now days, including photographers, are weaklings when it comes to abuse from bullies.

My Christmas wish this year is that AI totally destroys them, like Luke Skywalker's "one in a million," or the virus that killed the Martians in War of the Worlds. In reality, at some point, I would imagine the abuse of DMCA complaints by con artists and vengeful competitors will put a strain on the system, forcing them to react, or maybe find a new way to profit from it.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Might as well just get rid of the whole damn thing then. Shut it down. What's the purpose of the platform if you can't share information with others?!?

It's a toxic, social media melting pot cauldron of hate, trash talk, child abuse image links being shared, threats and just downright evil.

I left it about 4 years ago. Haven't been back.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Might as well just get rid of the whole damn thing then. Shut it down. What's the purpose of the platform if you can't share information with others?!?

It's a toxic, social media melting pot cauldron of hate, trash talk, child abuse image links being shared, threats and just downright evil.

I left it about 4 years ago. Haven't been back.

So very true. Sad that so many chasers / photographers falsely believe they can make it big on Twitter now days. If you did not develop a gimmick years ago, you can forget it. It is indeed toxic and abusive.