Nitter might be no more, but Twitter is back (sort of)

This weekend, Elon Musk's lawyers will remain busy as startup Operation Bluebird unveiled twitter.now, a social media platform competing with X. Operation Bluebird launched the platform during the same week Nitter received a cease-and-desist letter, marking another chapter in the ongoing debate over Twitter branding. Unlike Nitter, which enables users to view X content without an account, twitter.info is a standalone social media platform that requires users to sign up for a paid account.

Users can then post and view posts, with a trust signal displayed on each post and the ability to control their feed. The service operates on a subscription model, with early access available for $20 and the "Fighter" tier at $40, adding a slingshot badge to the user's profile. The rationale behind the paid service is to deter bots and maintain independence, as opposed to other X alternatives like Bluesky or Mastodon.

Operation Bluebird filed for the Twitter trademark last year, asserting that since Musk abandoned it in favor of X, it is now available for use. X filed a response, claiming that Twitter remains exclusively owned by X Corp, and the legal dispute continues without a resolution. Despite the ongoing litigation, Operation Bluebird remains confident in the outcome and launched twitter.now, stating, "Twitter is a reclaimed brand."

The team behind the platform emphasizes that it is not an attempt to resurrect the old Twitter platform, but rather a new service leveraging the familiar branding. The Register reached out to X for a comment on the situation but has yet to receive a response. With X's legal team having quashed XCancel and Nitter in recent weeks, it remains to be seen how X will respond to the challenge posed by twitter.now.