Certifying a tweet involves ensuring that its content has not been modified since it was published. Many social media users use them to speak uncensored but sometimes they tend to say something inappropriate and end up eliminating the proof of the crime, the smoking gun. Here are some methods that can be used to certify a tweet and thus guarantee that the person who posted that tweet really did it and it has not been created after the fact.
1. Screenshot with Timestamp
Take a screenshot of the tweet, making sure to include the tweet’s timestamp (exact date and time). Use an image authentication tool (such as fotoforensics or INVID) to verify the authenticity of the screenshot.
Let’s say you want to certify an important tweet related to a political news story. You take a screenshot making sure that the date, time, and name of the user who posted it appear. You can then use an image authentication tool such as fotoforensics to verify that the capture has not been altered. This service allows you to analyze metadata and possible manipulations in the image. This way you can prove that the tweet is authentic.
2. Using Blockchain to Certify a Tweet
Some services allow you to save the content of a tweet on a blockchain, which makes it immutable. Tools such as OriginStamp or OpenTimestamps can seal a hash of the content on the blockchain so that it is publicly certified and verifiable.
Imagine you post a tweet announcing a product launch. You want to certify that that tweet will not be altered to prove that the information was correct from the beginning.
You use a tool like OriginStamp or OpenTimestamps, which allows you to upload the content of the tweet (text, image, etc.) and record its hash on the blockchain. This creates an immutable digital footprint that anyone can verify to prove that that tweet was posted on that date and has not been modified since.
For example, we start from this screenshot where you can see the author, and the timestamp:
The file is sent (after registration on the page, it is free) and the capture is sent to the blockchain, with a timer of 15 minutes. Once one of the timers runs out (there’s one for bitcoin or one for etherium), your document is time-stamped and you can prove its time of existence.
Your document will be pinned to three public blockchains. By downloading the timestamp certificate and storing it securely with your capture, you can prove at all times, regardless of OriginStamp, that your document existed at the time of the timestamp and has not been tampered with since. The hash may take time to appear on the blockchain.
3. Web Archive
Use a web page archiving service such as archive.org (Wayback Machine) or archive.today to capture and store the tweet. These services create a certified copy of the tweet that can be viewed later, even if the tweet is deleted.
A politician posts a controversial tweet and there is a chance that he will delete or modify it later. Before that happens, you decide to archive it.
You’re going to archive.org (Wayback Machine) or archive.today, enter the URL of the tweet, and create an archived copy. In this way, even if the tweet is deleted, the certified copy will be publicly available, showing its content and the exact date on which it was archived.
Continuing with the previous example, if we copy the url of this tweet:
You can log in to Archive.org and then add that url to save it safely on this website as seen in the following image:
Due to a change in permissions in X (formerly Twitter) this functionality seems to be unavailable.
4. Certify by Digital Signature
You can use digital signature services that allow you to save the content of a tweet and digitally sign it with your private key. In this way, it can be verified that the tweet has not been modified since it was signed.
You’re a journalist and you want to sign an important tweet to prove that you’re the author and that the content is unalterable.
You use a digital signature service such as DocuSign or a public key certificate (PKI). You upload the content of the tweet or digitally sign it with your private key. Subsequently, anyone can verify the hash of the content with your public key, confirming that the tweet has not been modified since it was signed.
5. Social Media Verification Tools
There are tools that certify the content and metadata of tweets, such as Twitonomy or Twitter Archiving Google Sheet (TAGS), which allow tweets to be stored with their original and verifiable metadata.
You’re researching the evolution of a Twitter account over time and you need to certify multiple tweets from the same source.
You use Twitonomy or Twitter Archiving Google Sheet (TAGS) to collect tweets, along with their metadata (dates, retweets, likes). These services store all the information related to tweets in a spreadsheet or database, allowing you to have a verifiable record that certifies when they were published and what impact they had at the time.
Summary
These methods are useful for certifying the content of a tweet against audits or potential disputes over its authenticity. On social networks it is always a good idea to read twice what you publish since on the internet everything is saved somewhere. Even if they eliminate the evidence that incriminates them, it is possible that a trace will remain or that someone has certified what they have written that can be used in court.
