Facebook has apparently removed status updates from users' timelines that originated as cross-posts from Twitter, and its recent crackdown on app developers may be to blame.
Facebook users have long been able link their Facebook and Twitter accounts, allowing their tweets to automatically be posted to their Facebook timelines. But in the past week, Facebook users who relied on this connection have discovered their tweets have disappeared from Facebook.
The vanishing act, first reported by TechCrunch, may be linked to recent API restrictions the social media giant placed on third-party developers to allay users' privacy concerns. The restrictions were put in place after a scandal in which Facebook data on as many as 87 million people was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a digital consultancy with ties to the Trump presidential campaign. The scandal raised questions about Facebook's handling of user data and whether the company is doing enough to protect it.
"We're aware of the issue and looking into it," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
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Facebook users learned earlier this month that automatic cross-posting would no longer occur as a result of the new restrictions, but the tweets' disappearance came as a shock to many.
As TechCrunch pointed out, only a fraction of Facebook's billions of users appear to be affected by the move, as the feature was mainly used by users who wanted the convenience of posting messages to multiple social networks without having to actively maintain a Facebook account.
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