Periscope was an American live video streaming app for Android and iOS developed by Kayvon Beykpour and Joe Bernstein and acquired by Twitter, Inc. before its launch in March 2015.

The service was discontinued on 31 March 2021 due to declining usage, product realignment, and high maintenance costs.

However, after a brief interruption, C-SPAN was able to broadcast the sit-in because Rep. Scott Peters streamed the activity and the speakers using his Periscope account.

[24] Periscope had been actively used by the Turkish opposition until an initial ban was put in place in April 2017, weeks before a constitutional referendum to expand presidential powers.

[28] .Periscope's innovative live-streaming technology not only redefined real-time engagement but also paved the way for integrating live video features directly into social media platforms like Twitter, now X. Periscope allowed viewers to send "hearts" to the broadcaster by tapping on the mobile screen as a form of appreciation.

[32] These issues were magnified further by a professional boxing event on 2 May 2015, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, which was televised via a pay per view that cost approximately US$90, but saw wide unauthorised distribution through streams of various quality on Periscope.

[33][34][35] Rebroadcasting copyrighted content violates Periscope's written terms of service, and could result in suspension or banning the offending account.

[36] Other complaints came from firms acting on behalf of the NFL, the Premier League, the US Open Tennis Championship, and Taylor Swift, according to data from Chilling Effects, which tracks online takedown notices and was started by an attorney Wendy Seltzer, several law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

[citation needed] The Ultimate Fighting Championship, which kept a close eye on people it believes are illegally streaming its pay per view mixed martial arts matches, sent more than 650 takedown notices to Periscope, according to data from Chilling Effects.

The decision was made as a result of the app's declining popularity over time as other social media platforms with similar live-streaming capabilities gained traction.