After this, Musk has come to the decision to provide a write-only API for “bots providing good content that is free.” Unfortunately, Musk has not commented on what makes “good” content, or who will be in charge of deciding what bots get this privilege.
All of this happened after Twitter shuttered API access for 3rd parties, claiming they’ve broken an unspecified Twitter rule. Afterward, Musk’s Twitter updated its terms to state 3rd party apps can’t “use or access the Licensed Materials to create or attempt to create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications.” Unfortunately, this has led to many bots being endangered, as many of them need to scan account information, or access other licensed materials on Twitter.
Musk has been vying for ways to increase Twitter’s revenue ever since he purchased the company, with controversial moves like re-launching Twitter Blue at a higher price for Apple users, unbanning controversial figures, and firing thousands of contractors spearheading this motion.
The Impact of Blocking API Access
The decision to provide free write-only API access to quality bots may seem favorable at first, however, many bot creators are concerned. Keeping Twitter bots up can cost a substantial amount of money, and since these projects generally make little, if any money, developers will have to pay for API access themselves.
Musk has recently unveiled plans to show ads in replies in order to help creators (but only ones subscribed to Twitter Blue) make money on the platform. However, it’s unclear how this is going to work, and if bots will even have this privilege in the first place.
Bots, however, aren’t the only ones affected by this change. Development students and researchers also used to be provided special access to the Twitter v2 API, letting them collect and analyze data on subjects such as misinformation, hate speech, and more. Unfortunately, this may not continue under the new API ruleset.
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Bong Latson