Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced temporary limits on the number of tweets users can read each day on Twitter. These limits were implemented to address issues of excessive data scraping and system manipulation.
Verified subscribers with a blue tick on their accounts are allowed to read more tweets compared to unverified users. The announcement caused a significant uproar, with many users reporting problems on the site and the hashtag #Twitterdown trending.
Musk provided specific details regarding the limits for different types of accounts. Initially, verified users were limited to reading 6,000 posts per day, which was later increased to 8,000. Unverified accounts had a daily limit of 600 posts, while new unverified accounts were limited to 300 posts. These limits were subsequently raised to 800 and 400 posts, respectively.
In a second post, Musk joked: “Rate limited due to reading all the posts about rate limits.”
The ability to view Musk’s latest message depended on the number of tweets users had already viewed that day and their verification status. Users experiencing the “rate limit exceeded” message could access Musk’s original post through an alternate link.
It remains unclear how long these temporary limits will be in place as Musk has not provided a timeframe. Reports of issues on Twitter began to surface shortly after midday in the UK, and thousands of complaints were recorded by 6 pm.
This development follows a recent incident where Twitter required users to be logged into an account to view tweets, which Musk described as a “temporary emergency measure.” Earlier this year, the platform experienced a widespread outage that prevented users from tweeting, following accounts, or accessing direct messages.
Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 through a $44 billion takeover. In April, he introduced a payment system for verified accounts, granting subscribers additional privileges such as longer tweets, the ability to edit published tweets, reduced advertisements, and the option to use non-fungible token (NFT) profile pictures.
Critics argue that this move exposes the platform to imposters and disinformation, while Twitter claims it promotes high-quality conversations. Since Musk took over, Twitter has made significant cost-cutting measures, resulting in the layoff of numerous employees responsible for combating harmful content, ensuring election integrity, and promoting accurate information on the site.
In December, just weeks after the takeover, he tweeted: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.”
In May, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, was announced as Twitter’s new CEO, with Musk assuming the role of executive chairman.
Musk’s decision to step down from the CEO position came after a poll he conducted where millions of Twitter users urged him to do so, and he committed to honoring their request.