Twitter is receiving backlash after Elon Musk announced it would be limiting the number of posts user can view temporarily.
He posted on the social media platform noting that verified accounts will only be able to view 6,000 posts a day, unverified accounts will only be able to view 600 posts a day, and new unverified accounts will only be able to view 300 posts a day.
Adding that the decision was taken to “address extreme levels of data scraping {and} system manipulation.”
After intense criticism followed he later noted these “rare limits” would end up being adjusted to 10,000 posts a day for verified accounts, 1,000 posts a day for unverified accounts, and 500 posts a day for new unverified accounts.
This move was brought forward due to AI (artificial intelligence) powered chatbots have received immense popularity. Twitter and Reddit indicated intentions to prevent groups from gathering data for free.
“Almost every company doing AI, from start-ups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data. It is rather galling to have to bring large numbers of servers online on an emergency basis just to facilitate some AI start-up’s outrageous valuation.”
Musk is also trying to charge third parties more broadly regarding access to Twitter’s data, in an attempt to boost revenue after there were warning several months ago that the company could face bankruptcy if finances didn’t improve.
Earlier this week, it was also noted that tweets were not able to be viewed without a user logged into an account, a move that is meant to force more individuals to sign up.
This prompted many users receiving error messages that read “rate limit exceeded” and were blocked from seeing further posts. It became a trend on Twitter, with thousands reporting similar issues.
Some former executives of Twitter have also been critical of this decision, with former director of product management Esther Crawford saying, “Hubris + no pushback – customer empathy – data = a great way to light billions on fire.” She was fired by Musk back in February.
