Twitter's delete button no longer offers any protection to election candidates

You've all heard of the digital footprint but thanks to a new collaborative project all tweets DELETED by Irish election candidates will be recorded, stored and published in the name of transparency.

Storyful, in partnership with the Open State Foundation, today announced Politwoops for the Irish elections.

The tool has been used effectively in the United States and countries across the world to increase transparency and accountability.

You can find full details of the project HERE or can contact [e-mail] or @donie on twitter for further information.

Donie O'Sullivan, a journalist with Storyful said that unlike a stump speech that may be recorded by television cameras, or election leaflets that are distributed to voters in their thousands, promises and pledges made online can be deleted at the click of a button.

"Tweets are normally deleted due to typos and trivial mistakes; however, occasionally politicians delete tweets in an attempt to distance themselves from prior statements.”

“Politwoops helps the public and journalists hold public representatives and candidates seeking election to account.”

Arjan El Fassed, director of Open State Foundation, said Politwoops has proven to be an incredibly useful tool for holding politicians to account, especially during elections.

"This collaboration makes it possible to follow what candidates regret as a matter of public record and helps the Irish electorate to make an informed choice’"

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