Elon Musk announced that Twitter has begun limiting the number of tweets users can read in a day.
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Musk took control of Twitter in October after buying it for $44 billion. On Saturday, he said verified accounts can read up to 6,000 posts per day.
Posts on unverified accounts are limited to 600 per day, while new unverified accounts are limited to 300 posts per day. This was confirmed by the organization itself: “The quota limits are soon increasing to 8,000 for verified, 800 for unverified, and 400 for new unverified.”
The head of Tesla and SpaceX said Twitter is imposing temporary limits to address extreme levels of data deletion and system manipulation.
The move prompted negative comments from many users, including Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst, who told the PA news agency: "I've never seen a social network try so hard to prevent people from using a platform and completely limit any possible future for their business."
Adam Leon Smith from BCS, the UK 's professional IT body, said it was strange to impose a limit on reading time on a social network, as it would affect advertising revenue .
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Mr Musk did not give a specific date or duration for the cap increase or the restrictions imposed. Thousands of people in the UK have been complaining about problems accessing the site since 12pm on Saturday.
Twitter users are expressing frustration and using the hashtags #Twitterdownand #RIPTwitter as they receive an error message stating "Percentage limit exceeded. Please wait a few minutes and try again."
On Friday, users trying to view tweets on Twitter were told they had to log in to an account to gain access. This is the “temporary emergency measure” mentioned by Mr. Musk.
After another period of downtime in February, many users were unable to tweet, follow accounts, or access their direct messages due to widespread technical issues affecting the platform.
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Navarra, who previously worked as a digital communications consultant for the UK government, said Elon Musk's action was yet another eccentric decision by him.
