diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index aabe73dfab..5eff109e3e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
   * Swedish `sv`
 - Wallabag sharer now targets Wallabag 2 by default. This is potentially breaking change but hopefully, no one uses Wallabag 1 any more. ([#1261](https://github.com/fossar/selfoss/pull/1261))
 - `defaults.ini` file is no longer used, it is only provided for convenience under a new name `config-example.ini` ([#1261](https://github.com/fossar/selfoss/pull/1261), [#1267](https://github.com/fossar/selfoss/pull/1267))
+- `spout::getDate()` method now returns `DateTimeInterface` instead of a string. ([#1341](https://github.com/fossar/selfoss/pull/1341))
 
 ### Other changes
 - The front-end has been modernized using React framework, this will greatly simplify future development. ([#1216](https://github.com/fossar/selfoss/pull/1216))
diff --git a/src/helpers/ContentLoader.php b/src/helpers/ContentLoader.php
index 381a2bf276..71cbecdf94 100644
--- a/src/helpers/ContentLoader.php
+++ b/src/helpers/ContentLoader.php
@@ -159,18 +159,14 @@ public function fetch($source) {
                 }
 
                 // test date: continue with next if item too old
-                $itemDate = new \DateTime($item->getDate());
-                // if date cannot be parsed it will default to epoch. Change to current time.
-                if ($itemDate->getTimestamp() == 0) {
-                    $itemDate = new \DateTime();
-                }
+                $itemDate = $item->getDate();
                 if ($itemDate < $minDate) {
                     $this->logger->debug('item "' . $item->getTitle() . '" (' . $item->getDate() . ') older than ' . $this->configuration->itemsLifetime . ' days');
                     continue;
                 }
 
                 // date in future? Set current date
-                $now = new \DateTime();
+                $now = new \DateTimeImmutable();
                 if ($itemDate > $now) {
                     $itemDate = $now;
                 }
diff --git a/src/spouts/facebook/page.php b/src/spouts/facebook/page.php
index 4388154355..c13fb8aa01 100644
--- a/src/spouts/facebook/page.php
+++ b/src/spouts/facebook/page.php
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ public function __construct(WebClient $webClient) {
     }
 
     public function load(array $params) {
+        // https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/user
         $http = $this->webClient->getHttpClient();
         $url = new Uri('https://graph.facebook.com/' . urlencode($params['user']));
         $url = $url->withQueryValues($url, [
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ public function load(array $params) {
         $this->spoutTitle = $data['name'];
         $this->pagePicture = $data['picture']['data']['url'];
         $this->pageLink = $data['picture']['link'];
+        // https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/user/feed/
         $this->items = new ArrayIterator($data['feed']['data']);
     }
 
@@ -150,10 +152,12 @@ public function getLink() {
     public function getDate() {
         if ($this->valid()) {
             $item = $this->items->current();
-
-            return $item['created_time'];
+            // The docs say UNIX timestamp but appears to be ISO 8601.
+            // https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/post/
+            // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14516792/what-is-the-time-format-used-in-facebook-created-date
+            return new \DateTimeImmutable($item['created_time']);
         }
 
-        return false;
+        return new \DateTimeImmutable();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/spouts/github/commits.php b/src/spouts/github/commits.php
index a8092e1422..e1bf754dcf 100644
--- a/src/spouts/github/commits.php
+++ b/src/spouts/github/commits.php
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ public function __construct(WebClient $webClient) {
     public function load(array $params) {
         $this->htmlUrl = 'https://github.com/' . urlencode($params['owner']) . '/' . urlencode($params['repo']) . '/' . urlencode($params['branch']);
 
+        // https://docs.github.com/en/rest/commits/commits#list-commits
         $jsonUrl = 'https://api.github.com/repos/' . urlencode($params['owner']) . '/' . urlencode($params['repo']) . '/commits?sha=' . urlencode($params['branch']);
 
         $http = $this->webClient->getHttpClient();
@@ -123,13 +124,11 @@ public function getLink() {
 
     public function getDate() {
         if ($this->valid()) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($this->items->current()['commit']['author']['date']));
-        }
-        if (strlen($date) === 0) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
+            // Appears to be ISO 8601.
+            return new \DateTimeImmutable($this->items->current()['commit']['author']['date']);
         }
 
-        return $date;
+        return new \DateTimeImmutable();
     }
 
     public function destroy() {
diff --git a/src/spouts/reddit/reddit2.php b/src/spouts/reddit/reddit2.php
index 87bd77d59d..0b7fe16627 100644
--- a/src/spouts/reddit/reddit2.php
+++ b/src/spouts/reddit/reddit2.php
@@ -187,10 +187,14 @@ public function getThumbnail() {
 
     public function getdate() {
         if ($this->valid()) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $this->items->current()['data']['created_utc']);
+            // UNIX timestamp
+            // https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/3qsv97/whats_the_time_unit_for_created_utc_and_what_time/
+            $timestamp = (string) $this->items->current()['data']['created_utc'];
+
+            return new \DateTimeImmutable('@' . $timestamp);
         }
 
-        return $date;
+        return new \DateTimeImmutable();
     }
 
     public function destroy() {
diff --git a/src/spouts/rss/feed.php b/src/spouts/rss/feed.php
index 69372c64ff..649dd45fa8 100644
--- a/src/spouts/rss/feed.php
+++ b/src/spouts/rss/feed.php
@@ -160,13 +160,12 @@ public function getLink() {
 
     public function getDate() {
         if ($this->valid()) {
-            $date = $this->items->current()->get_date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
-        }
-        if (strlen($date) === 0) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
+            $timestamp = (string) $this->items->current()->get_date('U');
+
+            return new \DateTimeImmutable('@' . $timestamp);
         }
 
-        return $date;
+        return new \DateTimeImmutable();
     }
 
     public function getAuthor() {
diff --git a/src/spouts/spout.php b/src/spouts/spout.php
index d514358820..57c2128d50 100644
--- a/src/spouts/spout.php
+++ b/src/spouts/spout.php
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ abstract public function getLink();
     /**
      * returns the date of this item
      *
-     * @return string date
+     * @return \DateTimeInterface date
      */
     abstract public function getDate();
 
diff --git a/src/spouts/twitter/usertimeline.php b/src/spouts/twitter/usertimeline.php
index 9936b68983..76eb933911 100644
--- a/src/spouts/twitter/usertimeline.php
+++ b/src/spouts/twitter/usertimeline.php
@@ -280,13 +280,12 @@ public function getThumbnail() {
 
     public function getDate() {
         if ($this->items !== null) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($this->items->current()->created_at));
-        }
-        if (strlen($date) === 0) {
-            $date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
+            // Format of `created_at` field not specified, looks US-centric.
+            // https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/v1/data-dictionary/object-model/tweet
+            return new \DateTimeImmutable($this->items->current()->created_at);
         }
 
-        return $date;
+        return new \DateTimeImmutable();
     }
 
     public function destroy() {