Twitter has disabled the capacity of various public sector Twitter accounts to post breaking news and events automatically.
As it transitions to Musk’s new high-priced premium API system, Twitter has begun deleting API access, which permits many of these accounts to post in an authorised fashion.
Many of the affected Twitter accounts have automated updates, but they aren’t the hands-off bot accounts that some people envision when they hear the term “bot.”
“Twitter is now limiting automated tweets, so this account can no longer auto post warnings as we have in the past,” the National Weather Service Wilmington, OH account tweeted this morning.
“We will continue to provide general updates, but always ensure that you have multiple means for receiving weather information & alerts.”
Other critical services, such as the official account for the MTA, which oversees New York City’s public transportation, and BART, which serves San Francisco, experienced similar problems with access to Twitter’s API.
While automated accounts such as @RabbitEveryHour and @SteamStatus are not critical to public safety, they have announced that they will no longer be able to post entertaining or useful content due to the loss of Twitter API access.