Elon Musk again allows users to view tweets even if they do not have a Twitter account

By Divyanshi SharmaA few days ago, Elon Musk-owned Twitter made it compulsory blocked those without a Twitter account from viewing tweets. This meant that one could only view a tweet if he/she was logged in to Twitter. The move was widely criticised by users from across the globe as Twitter serves as the real-time news source for many people. And all of them don’t necessarily have Twitter accounts. Some netizens also perceived this as a move to force people into creating Twitter accounts.

And now, the micro-blogging site has reversed the change, allowing users to view tweets without having to create a Twitter account. However, there appears to be a catch. Users might not be able to see more than the first tweet in a Twitter thread if they aren’t logged in. Also, for some users, the restrictions might not have been lifted at all.

Twitter allows users to view tweets without an account

If you don’t have a Twitter account, you will still be able to view tweets. However, you can only view the tweet to which you have the direct link. Viewing multiple tweets is not possible. In addition to this, if you try and interact with the tweet in any way, the login requirement screen will pop up.

For instance, we tried viewing one of Musk’s tweets and were able to do that without signing in. However, only the tweet to which we had the direct link was available to view. There was no option to load multiple tweets.

Also, when we tried heading over to Musk’s profile, the login screen showed up.

Meanwhile, Twitter didn’t make any official announcement regarding the same. Elon Musk too, hasn’t tweeted about the reversal of the changes that were imposed about a week back.

When Twitter had restricted those without an account to view tweets, Musk, in a tweet, had called it a ‘temporary emergency measure’. “We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users,” he had added in the tweet.

Twitter’s rate limit

Twitter had also implemented a rate limit for its users, yet another move that received significant backlash from netizens. The rate limit restricts the number of tweets users can view in a single day. Under the new changes, verified accounts have the ability to access thousands of tweets, while unverified accounts are limited to only a few hundred. In response to this, numerous Twitter users expressed their dissatisfaction with the platform, with some even starting to explore alternative options.

Elon Musk took to Twitter and announced that they have taken the extreme measure to ‘address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation’.

“To address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limitsVerified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day, Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day, New unverified accounts to 300/day,” Musk’s tweet read.

Justifying the rate limit and all other changes, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino had tweeted that sometimes ‘big moves’ are needed to strengthen a platform.