Social media platform Twitter has announced temporary limits on the number of posts that users can read per day in response to concerns about data scraping and system manipulation. This move comes after executive chairman Elon Musk raised the alarm about “extreme levels” of these activities on Twitter.
In a tweet on July 1, Musk revealed the new limits. Verified accounts will be capped at 10,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts are limited to 1,000 posts per day and new unverified accounts will only be allowed to view 500 posts per day. These restrictions are aimed at combating the increasing incidents of data scraping and system manipulation on the platform.
Twitter users have been experiencing various issues on the platform recently, such as being unable to retrieve tweets, missing timelines, and encountering a “rate limit exceeded” message. These problems have become widespread enough to result in hashtags like #TwitterDown and #TwitterFail trending in certain regions.
Real-time outage monitor website Downdetector has received thousands of user-submitted reports documenting Twitter outages over the past 24 hours. The most affected regions include France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the East and West Coasts of the United States.
While Musk did not provide specific details about the cause behind the data scraping and system manipulation, he mentioned that Twitter’s data was being “pillaged” to such an extent that it was degrading service quality for users. Some experts speculate that web-browsing-enabled AI chatbots, like OpenAI’s GPT-4, may be responsible for these activities.
According to Twitter’s developer documents, rate limits are imposed to manage the volume of requests made to the platform’s Application Program Interface (API). These limits are crucial for maintaining a reliable and scalable API that the developer community relies on.
Despite the concerns and limitations, some individuals have expressed their support for Twitter’s actions. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, defended the decision in a tweet on July 2. He acknowledged the challenges of running the platform and emphasized that the move was made in the best interest of Twitter’s overall well-being. Dorsey also expressed his desire to see Twitter transition to a “truly censorship-resistant open protocol” like Bitcoin and Nostr.
In other news, Elon Musk has been training for a potential mixed martial arts cage fight with fellow billionaire and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This unexpected development has caught the attention of many, showcasing the diverse interests and pursuits of these influential figures.
As Twitter continues to tackle data scraping and system manipulation, its temporary limits on the number of posts users can read per day aim to address the pressing concerns surrounding these activities. The platform aims to maintain a secure and reliable service for its users while exploring opportunities for future improvements.
Source link
