Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has announced that the platform is temporarily limiting the number of tweets users can read in a day to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation. Verified accounts will be limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, while unverified accounts will be limited to 600 posts a day, and new unverified accounts will be limited to just 300 per day. Musk stated that the temporary limit is aimed at reducing data scraping and system manipulation, and improving the overall functionality of the platform.
The limitations come after thousands of users reported problems accessing the site, with a peak of 5,126 people in the UK and 7,461 people in the US complaining of issues. Users who experienced problems were met with an error message saying “Rate limit exceeded. Please wait a few moments then try again.” The move has sparked concern among users and experts alike, with some worrying that the limitations will make it easier for imposters and disinformation to spread on the platform.
In recent months, Twitter has undergone significant changes under Musk’s leadership. The platform has lost a large amount of its staff, with Musk laying off around 80% of its 8,000 global employees. The move has resulted in the platform losing some of its functionality, and has led to concerns about the platform’s ability to combat disinformation and other issues.
Musk has also overseen the scrapping of legacy “blue ticks”, which verified a user’s identity, and replaced it with a paid-for subscription called Twitter Blue. The new subscription allows users to make longer tweets up to 10,000 characters, and provides other select features such as non-fungible token (NFT) profile pictures and the ability to make changes to published tweets.
In recent weeks, Twitter has been plagued by issues, including outages and downtime. However, in May, Musk announced that he had hired a new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, formerly of NBCUniversal, to replace him. Musk tweeted that he would be transitioning to the role of exec chair and CTO, overseeing product, software, and sysops.
The changes to Twitter’s access restrictions come at a time when the platform is facing increased competition from other social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram. Many users have expressed concerns about the platform’s ability to combat disinformation and other issues, and the latest move may have raised further concerns about the direction the platform is heading.
