X Demands Takedown of Open-Source Viewer Nitter Over Scraping Allegations

X Corp. has issued cease-and-desist demands to the maintainers of Nitter, an open-source software project that enabled web users to read X posts without logging into the platform or using its official mobile application. The legal threat demands the permanent removal of Nitter code repositories and public hosting instances, as first reported by TechCrunch.

Nitter’s primary deployment, nitter.net, went offline following the receipt of the legal notices on August 24, 2026. The platform’s lead developer, who operates under the handle Zedeus, posted a statement to the project's website confirming that active development has been suspended while legal counsel is consulted. Zedeus confirmed via email that multiple independent operators hosting Nitter instances received corresponding demands from X.

According to copies of the legal correspondence reviewed by TechCrunch, lawyers representing X Corp. accused the project of illicitly accessing and circumventing the platform's Application Programming Interface (API). The social media company asserted that it possessed evidence showing Nitter engaged in unauthorized data scraping, as well as accessing X user accounts and session tokens in direct violation of the network's terms of service.

The legal notice cited potential violations of both federal and state statutes. Specifically, X Corp.'s counsel referenced provisions under the Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act along with trademark and unfair competition rules under the federal Lanham Act. The correspondence imposed a strict compliance deadline, giving Nitter's maintainer until 5:00 p.m. EST on August 25, 2026, to dismantle the platform's codebase and shut down operational servers.

Developed over the past seven years, Nitter functioned by extracting public content from X and stripping away advertisements, tracking mechanisms, and client-side JavaScript. This architecture provided users with a lightweight interface to view public postings anonymously, while also powering derivative web mirrors such as XCancel.

The current enforcement action follows previous attempts by X Corp. to disrupt Nitter through technical countermeasures. In 2024, the service suffered widespread outages after X implemented restrictive changes to its developer API. To bypass those technical blocks, Nitter operators updated the open-source software to require connection to valid X accounts, as documented on the project's GitHub repository, allowing public instances to temporarily resume functionality.

X Corp.'s aggressive push against third-party interfaces mirrors broader measures taken across the social media sector. Companies such as Meta Platforms have routinely pursued legal actions against automated web scrapers and unauthorized front-end clients, aiming to restrict content access to official platforms where user activity can be tracked and monetized through digital advertising.