Topline
Nitter, a project that allowed users to view posts and other content from X without visiting its website or logging into its apps, was shut down on Tuesday after receiving a legal notice from the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.
X sent a cease and desist letter Nitter, shutting down the service which allowed users to view X posts without visiting the platform’s official website or X.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Nitter was an open-source project hosted on GitHub that described itself as an “alternative Twitter front-end†that is focused on “privacy and performance.â€
Nitter's website now displays a message noting that X Corp sent out a “cease and desist†letter on August 24, “demanding a permanent takedown of Nitter,†and its various repositories.
Nitter's developer noted that they have stopped development of the platform and taken it offline “for the time being,†and are “seeking legal advice.â€
XCancel.com, a popular site that relies on Nitter to display X posts and feeds, also posted a similar message about receiving a cease-and-desist letter from X Corp and stopping operations until further notice.
What Do We Know About Nitter And XCancel?
XCancel and other Nitter-reliant platforms were popular on online forums and communities that have banned sharing direct links from X—often as a protest against the platform’s billionaire owner, Musk. Most of the forums, however, allowed users to post links from XCancel, Nitter, and others, enabling other users to view a post without visiting X's app or website. But Nitter-based services had significant limitations compared to X's app, including the absence of a home feed, infinite scrolling, or notifications. Users also could not post on Nitter, as there was no option to log in to their accounts.
What To Watch For
Musk and X have not yet publicly commented on the shutdowns, and it’s unclear if the billionaire will mention it at all. But according to TechCrunch, the cease-and-desist sent to Nitter accused it of unlawfully circumventing X's systems to scrape X data and access “X accounts and session tokens in violation of X's rules.â€
Tangent
While this is the first time Nitter has been hit with a legal letter, it’s not the first time the service has stopped working. In 2024, the service announced it was shutting down after X closed several key methods it used to access posts, including a guest account feature that was being used to circumvent another technical change to the platform's API. The service, however, relaunched in 2025.
