DAILY reading limits have been introduced on Twitter in a bid to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation on the social media platform.
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk shortly after the app began to display a message which read: ‘Rate limit exceeded. Please wait a few moments then try again’.
Verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts per day, while unverified accounts are restricted to 600 posts per day. New unverified accounts are limited to 300 per day.
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The development was met with outrage from Twitter users as many found it difficult to access latest information.
The ICIR also gathered that unverified accounts who have probably read more than 600 posts in a day couldn’t refresh news platforms and other social media handles as they all displayed the ‘Rate limit exceeded’ message.
Reacting to this, Elon Musk explained that the decision was to address levels of data scraping and system manipulation.
He tweeted: “To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits: – Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day – Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day – New unverified accounts to 300/day.”
Meanwhile, the Twitter billionaire owner in another tweet promised that the rate limit will soon increase.
He tweeted: “Rate limits increasing soon to 8,000 for verified, 800 for unverified & 400 for new unverified.”
Users react
Some twitter users have expressed their dissatisfaction at the development, stating that there should be no imposition of limit to access to information by someone who promised ‘free speech’ while purchasing the app.
Popular Nigerian critic, Daniel Regha bemoaned the situation, noting that it will affect a lot of people who can’t afford a verification badge.
“Verified accounts are limited to reading 6,000 posts a day but unverified accounts to are limited to just 600? This will affect a lot of people who can’t afford it. Twitter is one social media platform where millions of people get news, this should’ve been considered. So sad.”
Another Nigerian, Dípò Awójídé said Twitter didn’t give the condition when he was subscribing for Twitter Blue.
“Elon, hire professionals and pay them for the job they do. There should be no limit to the number of tweets I read daily. You didn’t give me this condition when I subscribed to Twitter Blue.”
John Junyszek said the new development may negatively impact people who use the platform most as part of their job.
“I may be overestimating, but it feels like I usually see more than 6,000 posts a day as part of my job. It feels like it could negatively impact people who use this platform the most. If this does end up causing issues for folks, would you be open to increasing the view limit?”
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M