Twitter has attempted to distance itself from the Rio Ferdinand deleted pictures furore, saying it was not responsible for removing the footballer?s White House photos.
The 32-year-old Manchester United star had captured the pictures inside the White House during a pre-season soccer tour of the US.
He blames the United States secret services for removing his pictures from the micro blogging website.
President Obama?s security personnel are believed to be responsible.
Ferdinand had uploaded the images to Twitter on 28 July – using Lockerz (formerly known as Plixi), a third-party service that enables Twitter users to share their photos.
A spokesman for Twitter, which is based in San Francisco, told Amateur Photographer last night: ?Twitter isn?t responsible for photos hosted on third-party photo apps.?
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Lockerz, which is based in Seattle, said: ?Per our privacy guidelines, we don?t disclose who removed the photo(s) in question and the specific reason as to why they were removed.?
Ferdinand, who has more than 1.3 million Twitter followers, expressed his shock at the discovery, comparing his experience to the TV drama 24 which features counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer.
Alongside one of the images he had joked that ?the security needs beefing up here at the White House?!!?.
Ferdinand, who uses the Twitter name @rioferdy5, wrote: ?Whoa? some1 has got into my phone + taken down my pics off twitter? this is deep? is Jack Bauer in Washington?!?
He added: ?My pic of the security was #removed quick, rapido, sharpish, fast? they don?t play here in DC? I feel like I?m on 24 right now # baffled.?
Rio Ferdinand (pictured front row, third from right) with his Manchester United teammates
Picture credit: Chris Cheesman
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