Twitter glitch wipes out millions of photos and links from tweets – here’s how to check if your posts are affected

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If you’ve had your X account (formerly Twitter) for more than nine years, you might want to check your old tweets.

Users have noticed that photos and links posted to the platform before December 2014 have been removed and replaced with dead URLs.

A well-known example is the Oscars selfie posted by Ellen DeGeneres in March 2014, who disappeared from her tweet, though it has since reappeared.

It’s unclear whether it’s an accident due to a technical problem at X or a deliberate cost-cutting effort to alleviate demand for corporate servers.

Musk has yet to address the issue, though he admitted in a message on Saturday that X “might fail” – shortly after saying he would remove the blocking feature.

The famous Oscars selfie posted by Ellen DeGeneres in March 2014 disappeared from the tweet, though it has since reappeared

Elon Musk has been criticized for 'more vandalism' of X, formerly known as Twitter, though it may just be temporary technical issues

Elon Musk has been criticized for ‘more vandalism’ of X, formerly known as Twitter, though it may just be temporary technical issues

If you have only joined X in the last 8.5 years, this new release will not affect you.

But if you’re a long-time user and have been posting tweets of your treasured photos, it might be worth checking to see if they’re still around.

To search for your own tweets from before December 2014, type “From:(your username) to:2014-01-01” into the Twitter search bar.

By doing so, MailOnline discovered that some images still appeared in tweets from before December 2014, but took screenshots in case their days are numbered.

It’s also worth it download your Twitter archivewhich allows you to save tweets and all media in it.

X’s latest issue affects posts with images, as well as hyperlinks converted via Twitter’s built-in URL shortener (t.co), according to the edge.

Tweets themselves are displayed, but it is their content that has problems displaying correctly.

Billionaire Elon Musk (pictured) took over as Twitter owner in October 2022 - changing the name to X in July

Billionaire Elon Musk (pictured) took over as Twitter owner in October 2022 – changing the name to X in July

Download your Twitter archive

  1. Under Twitter settings, select “Your account” and “Download an archive of your data”
  2. Enter your password, click confirm and verify your identity with a one-time code
  3. Click “Request Data” and you’ll receive an email to download a .zip file of your Twitter archive

Content appears as URLs, but is not clickable, and copying and pasting them into another search bar will only take you back to the original tweet.

X user Tom Coates, who detailed the issue in a series of messagescalled it “more vandalism” from the Twitter owner and “another cost-cutting exercise.”

“Twitter has now removed all media posted before 2014,” he said.

That’s — so far — almost a decade of photos and videos from the early 2000s removed from the service.

“Removed every image and video and replaced it with a dead link.”

In a post pasted below Coates’ first post, X said the missing images are “still stored on Twitter/X’s servers,” but the links are broken “at this time.”

Nevertheless, Coates pointed out that the images are “still being effectively removed from the public internet.”

It’s unclear if Musk’s team plans to restore the images from the tweets; MailOnline has contacted the company for more information.

In a post, X said the missing images are

In a post, X said the missing images are “still stored on Twitter/X’s servers,” but the links are broken “at this time.”

Elon Musk admits X (formerly known as Twitter) 'could fail' just as he is criticized for 'more vandalism'

Elon Musk admits X (formerly known as Twitter) ‘could fail’ just as he is criticized for ‘more vandalism’

It’s possible it’s just more temporary technical issues from the company, which has been experiencing outages believed to be due to tweaks to the site by developers.

Outages have been a fixture since Musk started running Twitter, leading to speculation that there aren’t enough staff to deal with the issues.

It comes as the billionaire owner admitted over the weekend in a surprisingly honest post that X “might fail.”

On Saturday he posted: The sad truth is that there are no great “social networks” right now.

“We may fail, as so many have predicted, but we will do our best to make at least one.”

Musk recently caused a backlash by stating his intent to remove the ability to “block” other users over X, with the exception of private direct messages.

If enforced, it could mean users face more harassment and the consequences of more unregulated free speech.

While it remains unclear whether Musk will continue to disable the blocking feature, many users on the platform begged the billionaire to reconsider.

“Blocking is a critical peace of mind issue for many people as it generally encourages the cyberstalkers to move on,” said one X user.

Musk took over Twitter in October and just changed its name to X as part of plans to make it an “everything” app.

A shiny ‘X’ logo was installed at the platform’s San Francisco headquarters before being removed due to complaints from local residents.

Timeline of Elon Musk’s eventful time on Twitter to date

October 27: Musk officially becomes the new owner of Twitter, tweeting ‘the bird has been freed’.

November 1st: Musk confirms plans to change the system of ‘Blue Tick’ verification on Twitter, for a reduced subscription fee of $8 per month.

the 4th of November: Musk is firing half of Twitter’s staff as a supposed cost-cutting measure, claiming he had “no choice.”

November 9: Musk launches the “Twitter Blue” subscription service that verifies accounts for a monthly fee.

November 11: The Twitter Blue service has been interrupted because accounts have purchased verification and are using it to impersonate brands and public figures.

November 12: Musk fires 80 percent of Twitter contractors without warning.

November 15: Musk fires employees who posted negatively about him on business messaging app Slack. The lawsuit between Musk and Twitter is dismissed.

November 16: Twitter employees are told to sign a pledge to remain in their position where they would “work long hours at high intensity” or receive three months of severance pay, resulting in a mass exodus.

November 18: A news ticker was projected at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco calling Musk a “space Karen,” “mediocre male child,” and “bankruptcy baby.”

November 23: A Twitter user reported that 5.4 million phone numbers and email addresses were leaked onto the dark web before his account was suspended.

November 26: Financial Times revealed that 50 of the platform’s top 100 advertisers have paused their ads.

November 29: Platform game reported that Twitter is in the process of reinstating about 62,000 banned accounts that each have more than 10,000 followers.

12 December: Twitter Blue has relaunched with the new Blue Tick review process.

January 11: Twitter will begin automatically redirecting users to the “For You” tab — its algorithmic feed of tweets — every time they open the app.

February 8th: Twitter extends character limit to 4,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers in the US. Soon after, the site encountered technical problems.

12th of February: Musk orders staff to overhaul Twitter’s tweet promotion algorithm after his Super Bowl tweet didn’t get enough impressions.

15 February: Twitter announces it will be removing SMS two-factor authentication (2FA) from Twitter’s free version — a decision that a security expert has labeled “absurd” and will lead to “so many accounts being hacked.”

February 25: Twitter unveils another round of layoffs that reduced its workforce to less than 2,000 — a sharp drop from the 7,500 employed when the billionaire first took over in October.

28th of March: Musk announces that it will prevent people from voting in Twitter polls or having their tweets appear in the For You tab if they don’t pay for Twitter Blue.

11 April: Musk gives an interview with the BBC at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, where he says he has been sleeping on the floor of the company’s offices. Musk also accused the interviewer of lying because he was unable to substantiate the hate speech allegations on the platform.

21st of June: Musk says he’s “in for a cage match” fight with rival tech CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

July 1st: Musk announces limits on the number of tweets users can see per day – 600 for people not opted into Twitter Blue and 6,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers.

July: Twitter is renamed X – a recurring letter in Musk’s life and career.