Twitter Says ‘Security Incident’ Caused Circles Tweets Leak

Twitter has admitted that an incident where private tweets intended for posters’ close friends that ended up on strangers’ feeds happened because of a security breach, The Guardian reports(Opens in a new window). 

Twitter Circles permits users to set a list of close friends and post tweets that only they can read. The incident last month saw Circle tweets popping up in the For You timeline of users who followed the Circle tweet poster but aren’t in their Circle. In some cases, Twitter users spotted Circle tweets appearing on their timelines despite not even following the poster. 

In an email to Circle users affected by the incident, seen and reported by The Guardian, Twitter said: “A security incident that occurred earlier this year may have allowed users outside of your Twitter Circle to see tweets that should have otherwise been limited to the Circle to which you were posting.” 

Twitter added the issue “was identified by our security team and immediately fixed so that these tweets were no longer visible outside of your Circle,” and emphasized that it was “committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service, and we understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce and we deeply regret this happened.”

Twitter, which now only replies to press emails with a poop emoji, did not immediately respond to PCMag’s request for comment on the origins of the security breach.

Twitter announced Circles last year, and described the feature as one that “makes it easier to have more intimate conversations and build closer connections with select followers.” But that was before Elon Musk officially took over the company and decimated much of its staff.

The layoffs came amid a string of cost-cutting efforts that the social media site has made since Musk completed his $44 billion takeover. These include the closing of a Sacramento data center, the shutting of a Seattle office, and the firing of janitorial workers and security staff across the US.