Twitter AI Bug Exposes Private Circle Tweets Publicly

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A malfunction in Twitter's AI-driven recommendation system caused private Circle tweets, intended for select audiences, to appear on the public For You timeline. This breach of privacy exposed sensitive user content to unintended viewers, undermining user trust and highlighting risks in AI-powered content filtering.[AI generated]

Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?

The event involves a malfunction in Twitter's AI-driven recommendation system that is failing to properly filter private Circle tweets, resulting in unauthorized exposure of private content. This constitutes a violation of user privacy rights, which falls under violations of human rights or breach of obligations intended to protect fundamental rights. Since the AI system's malfunction directly leads to harm by exposing private information, this qualifies as an AI Incident.[AI generated]
AI principles
Privacy & data governanceRespect of human rightsRobustness & digital securityTransparency & explainabilityAccountabilityHuman wellbeing
Industries
Media, social platforms, and marketingDigital security
Affected stakeholders
Consumers
Harm types
Human or fundamental rightsPsychologicalReputational
Severity
AI incident
Business function:
Marketing and advertisementMonitoring and quality control
AI system task:
Organisation/recommenders

Articles about this incident or hazard

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Twitter bug makes some private Circle tweets public | Engadget

2023-04-10
engadget
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event involves a malfunction in Twitter's AI-driven recommendation system that is failing to properly filter private Circle tweets, resulting in unauthorized exposure of private content. This constitutes a violation of user privacy rights, which falls under violations of human rights or breach of obligations intended to protect fundamental rights. Since the AI system's malfunction directly leads to harm by exposing private information, this qualifies as an AI Incident.
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Twitter Circle Tweets Surfacing on For You Timeline

2023-04-10
512 Pixels
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The issue involves an AI system in the form of Twitter's algorithmic timeline, which uses AI to surface content. The malfunction (bug) causes private Circle tweets to be shown publicly, leading to a breach of privacy, which is a violation of user rights and can cause harm to individuals' privacy and trust. Since the harm (privacy breach) has already occurred due to the AI system's malfunction, this qualifies as an AI Incident.
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Cuidado: sua Roda pode estar aparecendo para todo o Twitter

2023-04-10
Terra
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The Twitter recommendation algorithm is an AI system that decides which posts to show to users. The malfunction causes posts meant for a restricted audience to be recommended broadly, leading to privacy breaches. This is a direct harm to users' privacy rights, a violation of fundamental rights protected by law. The harm is realized, not just potential, as users have reported seeing restricted posts and interacting with them despite restrictions. Hence, this qualifies as an AI Incident under the framework.