In October, X (formerly Twitter) made significant changes to its Terms of Service that ruffled the feathers of the site’s user base. Most notably, anything you publish on X can seemingly be used to train X’s AI models when the new terms take effect on November 15. There doesn’t appear to be any way to opt out of the AI training, either.
“You agree that this [worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free] license includes the right for us to analyze text and other information you provide and to otherwise provide, promote, and improve the Services,” the terms reveal. That includes “for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type.”
Earlier this year, we explained how to disable data sharing with Grok from your account settings. Based on the updated Terms of Service, this won’t stop X from using your data to train AI going forward. If you post anything on the social network, it’s up for grabs.
Your options are to either accept that all your content will be used to train X’s AI or stop posting on X and deactivate your account. We’ll explain how to do the latter below.
How to deactivate your X account
Thankfully, X makes it fairly easy to delete your account if you’re ready to move on. Here are the steps you need to take to permanently deactivate your X account:
- Make sure you’re logged into X in your browser and visit the Settings page
- In the “Your Account” menu, click on “Deactivate your account”
- Click on the big, red “Deactivate” button
- Type in your password and click “Deactivate” again
As X explains on its help center, this initiates a 30-day deactivation window for an account. If you don’t access or reactivate your account within that 30 days, your account will be fully deleted and your username will no longer be associated with your account.
It’s also worth noting that while you can download your X data, deactivating your account will not remove your data from X systems. X “may retain some information on your deactivated account to ensure the safety and security of its platform and people using X.”
Alternatives to X
If you’re looking for a new social network, some viable options have sprung up in recent months. Here are some of the most popular X rivals on the internet right now:
- Bluesky: In the wake of X’s new Terms of Service, Bluesky has been adding hundreds of thousands of new users every day. After topping 10 million users on Sept. 16, the service now hosts more than 15 million users and is the most popular free app on the iOS App Store. It looks strikingly similar to Twitter of old.
- Threads: While Bluesky is the feisty up-and-comer, Meta’s X clone Threads has exploded in popularity since it launched last July. With over 275 million users, Threads has been the biggest beneficiary of defections from X. Trending towards blogging, posts on Threads can have 500 characters of text or 5 minutes of video content.
- Mastodon: Mastodon is an open-source social network that allows users to communicate between independent instances using the ActivityPub protocol. It has the highest barrier to entry but has found a wider audience in recent years since debuting in 2016.
As you can see, there are plenty of Twitter-likes out there if you still need your fix.
