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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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