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Debate about the memory of the internet
The open source project 'Politwoops' offers transparency, but also starts the debate about the memory of the internet. Even if something is deleted, it can often still be found. What started with Dutch parliamentarians and city council members has now been rolled out to 26 countries . This month India and since a day Ireland have been added to the API. In the United Kingdom Metro even keeps a weekly top ten.
For example, British MP Rob Wilson accidentally sent a link to a uganda mobile phone number list porn site instead of a link to a BBC article. He deleted this tweet after 14 minutes. Interestingly, this was not a mistake, but the link was sent to him by the Conservative Party headquarters. This is often the source of tweets that they advise their members to send. The headquarters said that Wilson was interested in such a story and sent him a link. 'It appears that a technical error has been made', was the message to the Daily Mail . The shortened URL that Wilson then sent out was missing a number.
6,000 deleted messages, 300,000 visitors
Following the massive use of social media by politicians and some Twitter scandals such as Anthony Weiner , the American Sunlight Foundation implemented 'Politwoops' in the US. Since then, there have been more than 6,000 deleted posts with 300,000 visitors. Time Magazine named Politwoops one of the best websites of 2012 .
Special guest at the next Hack de Overheid Hackathon 'Apps4Europe' on June 29 is Júlia Keseru from Sunlight Foundation. In addition to a keynote, she will speak in a workshop with Open State about the importance of digital political transparency.