Feb 16, 2024 12:24:00

``Nitter'', which allows you to view X (old Twitter) without an account, becomes unusable because X blocks the loophole

It has been revealed that '

Nitter ', which allows users to view and RSS posts from X (formerly Twitter) without an account, has been blocked by X. Many Nitter servers have already been shut down.

GitHub - zedeus/nitter: Alternative Twitter front-end
https://github.com/zedeus/nitter

Nitter is a service that allows you to view the content posted by X without noise such as 'recommended', and subscribe to the posted content via RSS. After X set restrictions on viewing posts without logging in, it also attracted attention as a 'service that allows you to view X's posts without logging in.' The following article summarizes the functions that Nitter has.

``Nitter'' turns Twitter into a super lightweight ad-free version, and can also convert timelines to RSS - GIGAZINE

On Nitter, a situation occurred around August 15, 2023 that made it impossible to view posts due to a change in the X specifications.

On August 18, 2023,

a countermeasure was proposed that would make it possible to retrieve posts by using a proxy to obtain a guest account, and X's posts were once again viewable. According to Nitter developer Zedeus , a 'guest account' refers to an 'anonymous account that only functions for one month and was created when an older version of the iOS or Android X app was launched for the first time.' That's what he said. Nitter continued to be able to view X's posts even after August 2023 by incorporating a measure that ``obtains a new guest account every time the guest account expires.''

However, on January 28, 2024, it

became clear that it was no longer possible to obtain a new guest account. Since it is no longer possible to obtain a new guest account, you will no longer be able to obtain X's posts once the current guest account expires. Mr. zedeus said, ``Real accounts will be rate limited immediately and are likely to be deleted. There is no way for Nitter anymore,'' and reveals that it is difficult to take any further measures.

Furthermore, on the same day, the certificate of Nitter's official server ``nitter.net'' expired, and a warning began to be displayed when trying to access it with a browser.

At the time of article creation, access itself is possible if the setting is set to ignore certificate expiration.

You can also check the posted content of each account. However, considering the security risks, it is best not to access 'nitter.net'.

Nitter's GitHub repository

reports that the certificate for ``nitter.net'' has expired, but Zedeus comments that ``Nitter is dead.''

Nitter's source code is open to the public and anyone can host it, so in addition to the official Nitter server, there are many Nitter servers created by volunteers on the Internet. However, even on volunteer servers, the situation is the same: ``If the guest account expires, you will no longer be able to get X's posts'', and many servers are terminating their service one after another. For example, when you access ``nitter.cz'', which was popular among volunteer servers, a message saying ``Nitter is over'' is displayed and you can no longer view posts.

Nitter is over
https://nitter.cz/

On the page below, you can check the life and death status of Nitter servers around the world. You can see that many servers including 'nitter.net' and 'nitter.cz' have been forced to shut down.

Nitter Instance Health
https://status.d420.de/

The Nitter source code is available at the link below.

GitHub - zedeus/nitter: Alternative Twitter front-end
https://github.com/zedeus/nitter

◆Forum now open
A forum related to this article has been set up on the GIGAZINE official Discord server . Anyone can write freely, so please feel free to comment! If you do not have a Discord account, please create one by referring to the article explaining how to create an account!

• Discord | 'Did you use Nitter? What was it used for?' | GIGAZINE
https://discord.com/channels/1037961069903216680/1207984262825910304