When Twitter Circles launched in August 2022 , it promised users “the flexibility to choose who can see and engage with their content on a Tweet-by-Tweet basis.”

The ability to limit posts’ access to a small number of people “makes it easier to have more intimate conversations and build closer connections with select followers,” the company said in a blog post announcing the feature. Among the voices praising Circles in the post was Belong To, which supports young LGBTQ+ people in Ireland. The group hailed the feature for putting “power into the hands of people on Twitter by creating a new way for them to control how they show up online and feel safe expressing themselves.”

Eight months and one ownership change later, Circles’ secure functionality appears to have broken.…