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X Corp. sent cease-and-desist notices to Nitter and XCancel on Aug. 24, 2026. Both services are offline while their operators seek legal advice, but the allegations have not been tested in court.
X Corp. sent cease-and-desist notices to the operators of Nitter and XCancel on Aug. 24, 2026, prompting both services to go offline while their operators seek legal advice. Nitter said X demanded the permanent takedown of its public instances and code repository, cutting off two prominent ways to read public X posts without logging into the platform or using its app.
Nitter developer Zedeus announced the demand on the project’s website on Aug. 25. The notice said Nitter.net was offline and development had stopped for the time being. By that date, the project’s GitHub repository had been archived and made read-only, although its code remained publicly visible at the time of reporting.
XCancel reported receiving its letter at 8 p.m. EST on Aug. 24. Its operator stopped the service until further notice and said legal advice was being sought. XCancel, which had operated for two years, provided a public front end based on Nitter and let readers open X posts without visiting X directly.
TechCrunch, which reported that it reviewed X’s letter to Nitter, said the company accused the project of scraping X data and accessing accounts and session tokens through the unauthorized use or circumvention of its API. X’s lawyers reportedly cited state and federal laws, including Texas computer-access law and the Lanham Act, and gave Nitter a 5 p.m. EST deadline on Aug. 25 to shut down. Those are claims made by X, not findings issued by a court.
Account-Free X Access Shrinks
Nitter offered a privacy-focused reader for public posts on X, removing advertising, tracking cookies and client-side JavaScript. It also allowed people without X accounts to follow links, view profiles and read posts through lighter third-party pages. The shutdown means those users may have to visit X, create an account or lose access to material shared only on the platform.
The notices also affect operators of independent Nitter instances. Zedeus told TechCrunch that other instance operators received similar letters, indicating that X’s action was not limited to the flagship domain. The demand targeting both hosted services and the open-source repository may discourage operators from maintaining replacement instances even if copies of the code remain available elsewhere. The episode highlights the limited control third-party readers have when they depend on access to a platform’s systems and data.
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API Restrictions Preceded Legal Action
Nitter had operated for seven years as a free, open-source alternative front end for Twitter, later renamed X. It retrieved public posts through unofficial interfaces and served them through its own pages. The project said this arrangement kept users’ browsers from communicating directly with X, limiting exposure to X’s scripts, advertising and browser-fingerprinting tools.
The service had already faced technical restrictions in 2024, when changes made by X disrupted Nitter’s earlier access methods and temporarily took Nitter.net offline. Later versions required instance operators to use real X accounts and session tokens. Development resumed and public instances returned, but the new legal notices represent a separate form of pressure. An Aug. 25 GitHub issue also reported that public instances were returning rate-limit errors.
“X Corp. [is] demanding a permanent takedown of Nitter instances and the project’s repository.”
— Zedeus, Nitter’s developer
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Legal Claims Remain Untested
The full letters have not been published by either operator, leaving the complete evidence, demands and legal arguments outside public view. No lawsuit or court order has been announced, and X’s allegations have not been adjudicated. It is also unclear whether Nitter or XCancel will challenge the notices, negotiate with X or close permanently. Nitter’s repository remains readable but archived, creating a distinction between X’s reported demand for permanent removal and the code’s current availability. X has not publicly detailed whether it plans action against every remaining instance or software fork.
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Legal Advice Will Shape Return
Both operators are consulting legal advisers and have declined to disclose further details for now. Readers should expect Nitter.net and XCancel to remain unavailable unless their operators announce a return or a modified service. Other instance operators may also close after receiving letters or encountering technical blocks. The next firm development would be an operator response, a settlement or a court filing; until then, the duration of the shutdown and the future of active Nitter forks remain unresolved.
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Key Questions
What were Nitter and XCancel?
Nitter was an open-source alternative front end for viewing public X posts without using X’s website or app. XCancel was a public service based on Nitter that offered similar account-free access.
Why did X send the notices?
X alleged that Nitter engaged in unauthorized scraping and API circumvention, including access involving accounts and session tokens. These remain company allegations rather than court findings.
Are both services permanently closed?
XCancel is stopped until further notice, while Nitter said its development had paused for the time being. Neither operator has confirmed a permanent voluntary closure, although X reportedly demanded a permanent takedown.
Can other Nitter instances stay online?
Some copies or forks of the open-source software may remain available, but Zedeus said other instance operators received similar notices. Their legal position and operating status are not yet clear.
Source: hn
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