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Twitter CEO Elon Musk drew backlash over a new decision to require developers to sign up for a "paid basic tier" to access Twitter's API starting on February 9. But it looks like Musk is changing his mind again. This time, he says bots providing "good content" can access Twitter's API for free. He said the platform would enable a "light, write-only" API for these bots. Now, we can't say what "good content" entails.
But Musk justified the removal of the free access to the API with it "being abused" by bot scammers and spammers. Many developers have already announced they're shuttering their bots ahead of February 9. Musk has been looking for new ways to make money. And we've seen that from the recent decisions on the platform, including charging Twitter users to pay so they stay verified. The company is also reportedly looking to ask for US$1,000 from brands to keep their gold checkmarks on the platform.