Twitter fixes bug that caused Circle tweets to appear publicly
Twitter has acknowledged a security blunder, which caused 'Circle' tweets to go public. The platform sent emails to users informing the same. Generally, Circle tweets are intended to remain visible to a subset of trusted followers/friends. However, a bug made them visible to the general public. The issue has been resolved now, and Twitter's technical team claims to know its root cause.
The issue was reported last month
Many Twitter Circle users discovered a security flaw at the beginning of April, which allowed their private tweets—which were meant only for the Circle to which they were posting—to cross the containment line and be seen by people outside their Circle. As a result, it sparked some uncomfortable situations among users, bringing serious repercussions for those posting complaints about their job, gossip, etc.
People posting privately were affected
Twitter Circle remained buggy for a while, becoming a major concern for people who have been using the feature to tweet things they only wanted to share within a close group. Multiple users reported that individuals outside of their Circle liked their private posts on Twitter. The tweets slipped through the crack, becoming visible to unintended eyes.
Circle tweets even reached non-followers
Twitter Circle tweets should have been limited to a particular Circle. However, after the security breach, the tweets began to appear on the algorithmically generated "For You" timeline, allowing followers/friends outside the poster's Circle to react and respond. Some users even reported that their Circle tweets were seen by Twitter users who weren't already following them.
Some issue still persists for Circle users
A Circle tweet typically has a green banner, indicating that it was shared with a specific group. While the issue allowing these tweets to appear publicly has been fixed; they still show up without the green banner. However, you can tell that they have not been shared with the public because of the retweet button, which usually greys out for such tweets.
Twitter Circle was introduced in August 2022
Twitter started testing the Circle feature in May 2022, and three months later in August, it was made available to all iOS, Android, and web users. The new ability introduced a way to interact with a smaller crowd - your trusted connections, to be specific. It gave the users, the freedom to decide who can access and interact with their content for every tweet.
