Government or public accounts that mainly publish updates (traffic, weather, emergency messages) have free access to Twitter’s API again.

Verified accounts that primarily post public interest updates no longer have to pay to access Twitter’s API. The platform frees up the interface again for specific government companies or public services. Think of emergency alerts, traffic reports or even the weather.

Volatility is king

It’s another twist in the course of Twitter under Elon Musk. In February, the platform announced that it would stop providing free access to the API, and in March there was a real price list with all sorts of conditions. The New York City subway stopped tweeting updates and the National Weather Service’s automatic tweets in the US were restricted. This had implications for hurricane and storm warnings, for example, which were seen by far fewer people.

An important consideration with this umpteenth turn is that these are verified accounts. Many governments and their services around the world still do not have a check mark in any color. This encore therefore seems somewhat arbitrary, despite the clear circumstances at first glance.

Officially, Elon Musk no longer operates Twitter, but it’s clear that his mood still heavily influences decisions. So the question is not whether something will change again soon, but what and when.