New Twitter Blue feature aids content pirates

Elon Musk’s Twitter has introduced a new feature for Twitter Blue subscribers that could be a gift to content pirates.

Earlier this month, Twitter said that verified users who pay the $8 per month subscription fee for the hotly-debated blue tick would be able to upload 120-minute long videos, twice as long as the 60-minutes allowed previously. Non-subscribers are limited to just over two minutes.

Within days reports started flooding in that blockbuster movies were being uploaded for free viewing. One user uploaded Shrek The Third in a post that was cheekily added to the replies to Musk’s tweet announcing the change.

That post has since been deleted with a message that it had been “disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”

However, at the time of writing, a cursory glance as the platform revealed multiple posts showing the latest instalment in the highly successful John Wick franchise starring Keanu Reeves, albeit with the last few minutes missing due to the running length. John Wick Chapter 4 is currently only available through pay-for streaming services including Amazon Prime.

Just how seriously to take this as a form of IP infringement is hard to gauge. Twitter’s format means that the interface for playing a movie is pretty crude, as there’s no standalone player, so if you navigate away from the offending tweet the playback wills top. It also won’t remember your place if you come back to it. For now at least, those seeking out illegal content are still likely to look elsewhere.

Main image by Alexander Shatov