nitter needs support
Look, I had a different post scheduled for today. That is, until I stumbled upon this Hacker News submission, Nitter project received cease and desist, linking to this GitHub issue: All public nitter instances do not work. While it's effectively breaking news, I might as well give it a shot for a project that I've been appreciating even prior to starting this blog.
What's Nitter, you ask? The project's GitHub readme explains its purpose well:
A free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy and performance.
Inspired by the Invidious project.
- No JavaScript or ads
- All requests go through the backend, client never talks to Twitter
- Prevents Twitter from tracking your IP or JavaScript fingerprint
- Uses Twitter's unofficial API (no developer account required)
- Lightweight (for @nim_lang, 60KB vs 784KB from twitter.com)
- RSS feeds
- Themes
- Mobile support (responsive design)
- AGPLv3 licensed, no proprietary instances permitted
Nitter's readme also includes a section about why it exists if you're curious.
But why does Nitter matter to me? I have enjoyed learning from and following along with specific people on Twitter for several years at this point. It was nice having a more private and less obstrusive way of accessing tweets and threads via Nitter instances. However, I don't have a Twitter account. So, since Twitter started causing problems for guests trying to view content onsite, that presented an even bigger reason to stick with Nitter instances.
With how I see Twitter described by numerous IndieWeb and small web participants, I'm sure many people like you don't use Twitter nor have a Twitter account either. That makes Nitter instances even more important for us with how I have linked insightful Twitter tweets or threads in my posts. Why would I voluntarily make you put up with the noise and restrictions of a direct link to Twitter? Around 20 posts of mine have incorporated links to Nitter instances thus far, so they aren't just some one-off addition to my written corpus. And I'd love to link to more insights like those in the future, if only issues like the above could be resolved however possible.
Now that you understand why I'm writing about this story, here's some key pieces of information from Zedeus, the developer of Nitter. From the GitHub issue above:
We have received cease and desist letters. Awaiting legal advice at the moment, but for now expect all nitter instances to remain down for the foreseeable future.
And this is what greeted me when trying to visit the main Nitter instance some minutes after reading the above news:
Cease and desist
On 24 August 2026 cease and desist letters have been sent by X Corp. demanding a permanent takedown of Nitter instances and the project's repository.
nitter.net is offline and development has stopped for the time being. I'm seeking legal advice and won't be commenting further on the specifics for now.
Thank you to everyone who used, hosted, packaged, donated and contributed to Nitter over the past seven years.
— zedeus, 25 August 2026
So what exactly do I want out of this? Other than some miraculous resolution that opens up Twitter or lets Nitter and its instances resume operation, I want:
- Increased awareness of Nitter and its instances, the clear demand for them, and the unfolding story above. Feel free to spread the word on any of those topics however far and wide you please.
- To see more donations toward Nitter if you have the desire and the means. Zedeus wrote in the GitHub issue linked above that, if you would like to donate to help with legal fees, you can:
see the Donations section of the readme, or contact me via email at zedeus@pm.me
Good luck, king.