Twitter walks back automated tweet limit on emergency alerts, allowing posts for free

In a policy reversal, Twitter will allow verified government accounts and ones that are publicly owned to send automated tweets about weather alerts, transport updates and emergency notifications on the platform.

The social media platform faced sharp criticism from public service accounts for its planned policy to charge for programmed tweets, which would affect accounts that use automated programs to disseminate information. It was part of several overhauls the company announced after Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022.

Many local National Weather Service (NWS) accounts, including its tsunami warning center and local branches of the service, alerted users the new restrictions may prevent them from being able to post updates about the weather as often and as quickly as they usually would.

The plan from Twitter would limit the number of free automated tweets to 1,500 per month and charge $100 per month for up to 50,000 automated posts. The NWS said it expected to limit its tweets to 50 free automated posts in a 24-hour period, according to the Washington Post.

Twitter announced it was making the change on Tuesday in the interest of “public utility.”

“Verified gov or publicly owned services who tweet weather alerts, transport updates and emergency notifications may use the API, for these critical purposes, for free,” the platform said.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which had warned it would no longer use the platform to share transit information because of the new limits, reacted to the news on Twitter.

“Glad that Twitter got the message,” the MTA said on Twitter on Wednesday. “We’re happy that they’ve committed to making API access free for the MTA and other public sector agencies.”

“In light of this reversal, we’re assessing our options for service alerts going forward,” they added.