Twitter: Breaking the Bird Documentary Review

Once hailed as a revolutionary platform for free speech and global connection, Twitter – now X – has devolved into what some experts call a “cyber-sewer.” The BBC’s newly released feature-length documentary, Twitter: Breaking the Bird, traces the shocking transformation of the internet’s former golden child into a chaotic, toxic wasteland.

The documentary, now streaming on BBC Two and iPlayer, opens with a look at Twitter’s humble beginnings. Originally considered for the name Friendstalker, the platform was born from a simple idea: allow users to broadcast the mundanities of their lives – what coffee they were drinking, where they were going, or what they were thinking.

But this early banality, according to the film, was deceptive. It masked a far more dangerous potential: the power to shape public discourse, spread misinformation, and polarize societies at scale. As the documentary notes, tech founders once carried the promise of enlightenment – but often lacked the foresight to handle the tools they were creating.

Breaking the Bird is careful not to villainize all the early Twitter team members, but it does suggest they were unprepared for what the platform would become. Co-founders like Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Jason Goldman appear in archival footage – while Jack Dorsey, arguably the face of Twitter, is noticeably absent as a participant in the documentary.

One of the more poignant threads is the role of Del Harvey, Twitter’s early head of trust and safety. The film reveals that she had little institutional support, despite recognizing early warning signs. Meanwhile, users like Ariel Waldman reported actual stalkers harassing them via the platform, only to receive cold responses from leadership – Dorsey famously signing off one such reply with: “Best. Jack.”

This moment is framed as a symbolic fork in the road – the point where freedom of speech began to be confused with freedom from consequences.

The documentary expertly weaves in pivotal moments in Twitter’s history:

By this point, Dorsey had returned as CEO, wore “Stay Woke” T-shirts, and embraced meditation while seemingly ignoring the firestorm erupting on his own platform.

Oddly, Elon Musk, despite being the most transformative figure in Twitter’s recent history, is largely on the periphery of the documentary. We see footage of him theatrically carrying a sink into Twitter HQ, but the documentary does not dive deeply into his motivations or radicalization.

It does, however, suggest a familiar story: a wealthy man enraged by political correctness, skeptical of pandemic-era science, and drawn to conspiracy theories and populism—ultimately deciding his answer was Donald Trump.

Twitter’s rebranding to X and its transformation into a platform flooded with unchecked speech, bots, incels, and fascists is portrayed not as a surprise, but an inevitability.

Twitter: Breaking the Bird is, at its core, a sobering 21st-century tech parable. The film doesn’t rely on dramatic narration or flashy effects. Instead, it lets archival footage and expert commentary do the heavy lifting.

It portrays a tech platform that scaled faster than its creators could comprehend, faster than regulators could control, and faster than society could adapt. Ethical oversight fell away as developers prioritized growth and engagement above all else.

In one of the documentary’s most resonant moments, developer Evan Henshaw-Plath offers a sobering reflection:

“You can’t have universal free speech – because the speech of some destroys the speech of others.”

It’s a line that lingers long after the credits roll, serving as both a warning and a requiem for a digital age gone awry.