Tech billionaire Elon Musk may be killing free access to its free Application Programming Interface (API) next week. The API is used to create animal picture bots, alt text readers, and automated bots, among others. The micro-blogging platform will be introducing a paid basic tier soon.
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"Starting February 9, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, both v2 and v1.1. A paid basic tier will be available instead 🧵," verified Twiter Dev account tweeted.
In a bid to save Twitter from bankruptcy, the company taking several steps and in the latest move, it is making changes that will require developers to pay to get access to API.
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Earlier this month, popular apps that can be used to scroll Twitter without going through the micro-blogging site's software, including Tweetbot and Twitterrific were suspended.
It should be noted that Twitter has not operated a communications department since the takeover by tech billionaire Musk and he started downsizing the company’s workforce soon after taking over. Developers of Tweetbot and Twitterrific also had not heard anything from the micro-blogging company. The Twitter CEO earlier said that Twitter's "open source" algorithm will be revealed next month, as several people were unable to use third-party Twitter apps and faced issues with logging and accessing feeds.
Meanwhile, top advertisers cut their spending on the micro-blogging platform after a chaotic takeover by Musk last year and total advertising spending on Twitter declined by 71 per cent in December, recent reports said. According to a report by news agency Reuters, data from an advertising research firm showed that top advertisers slashed their spending on Twitter after Musk's takeover.