Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently declared that Twitter would be temporarily placing restrictions on the number of tweets users can read per day. The intention behind this move is to combat the usage of the platform’s data by artificial intelligence (AI) companies. As part of this restriction, verified accounts will only be able to read up to 6,000 tweets per day, while non-verified users, who constitute the majority of Twitter’s user base, will be limited to 600 tweets per day. Additionally, new unverified accounts will have a cap of 300 tweets. Musk explained in a tweet that these measures were necessary to address the excessive levels of data scraping and system manipulation by third-party platforms. The announcement prompted a trending topic in the United States with the hashtag “Goodbye Twitter,” as some users quickly reached their limits. Musk also mentioned that Twitter plans to increase the limits to 8,000 tweets per day for verified accounts, 800 for unverified accounts, and 400 for new unverified accounts; however, he did not specify a timeline for the implementation of these changes.
Challenges of Data Scraping and AI Development
Musk emphasized that the decision to restrict tweet reading was primarily driven by the extensive data scraping conducted by firms to build their AI models. These organizations were aggressively scraping Twitter data, causing significant traffic issues on the platform. Many companies rely on social media sites to gather real-life conversations as examples to train their AI systems to respond in a human-like manner. Musk stated that numerous companies, ranging from startups to major corporations, were engaging in this practice, which he found frustrating. The need to allocate additional servers on an emergency basis to accommodate the excessive demand created by AI startups’ data scraping activities further intensified his frustration.
Twitter is not the only social media giant grappling with the challenges posed by the rapid growth of the AI sector. In mid-June, Reddit faced a similar issue and responded by increasing prices for third-party developers who were utilizing its data and collecting conversations from its forums. This decision stirred controversy, as many regular users accessed the platform through third-party platforms. This change also marked a departure from the previous practice of providing social media data for free or at a minimal cost.
By implementing restrictions on tweet reading, Twitter aims to address the detrimental effects of data scraping on its platform. These measures will help alleviate traffic issues caused by excessive AI-related data collection. While it remains to be seen how long these restrictions will be in place, the move represents an important step in safeguarding the user experience on Twitter. As the AI sector continues to expand, social media platforms must grapple with the challenges of striking a balance between facilitating AI development and preserving the integrity of their services.
Leave a Reply