Twitter, the sensational social media platform now owned by American billionaire Elon Musk, has reportedly announced to offer free write-only API to bots who are giving good content. Last week, the company announced to discontinue free accessibility to its APIs from February 9. However, after receiving the developer’s feedback, the firm tends to change its decision.
This move is just as unclear as some of the other ones made under Musk's leadership. There is no clarity on what ‘good material’ is or who would decide what is adequate content. But if Twitter does decide to apply this policy, some bots will have a new chance at survival on the site.
Previously, Twitter terminated third-party clients' access to its API on the grounds that they had violated an undefined long-standing guideline. The firm later amended its developer terms covertly to state that apps are not permitted to use or access the Licensed Materials to construct or attempt to develop a substitute or equivalent product or service to the Twitter Application.
Following the announcement, several engineers who had previously mocked bots criticized the move, claiming that automation gave users free material and improved the services.
Musk has been making efforts to increase revenue for Twitter, including adding a premium new subscription plan and increasing ad spending. In order to share profits with creators, he also intends to show advertising in replies.
The Twitter CEO stated that only Blue Subscribers can make money from this, despite the lack of specifics around how it will operate. Therefore, it's possible that content bots will not make any money even if advertisements are shown on their profiles or in the tweet replies that they receive.
The withdrawal of Twitter's free API affects more than simply bot developers. Many student programmers and experts on hate speech or disinformation may not have the funds to pay a monthly subscription fee. Academics have special access to Twitter's v2 API, but under the new API restrictions, that may not be the case.
Source credit: https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/04/elon-musk-says-twitter-will-provide-a-free-write-only-api-to-bots-providing-good-content/
