Just days after implementing a login requirement to view tweets, Twitter has silently removed these restrictions, allowing users to open Twitter links in a browser without an account.
TechCrunch noticed that tweet previews are now unfurling in popular messaging platforms like Slack, WhatsApp, and iMessage, indicating that the changes have taken effect.
The decision to enforce the login requirement was initially made to prevent data scraping, according to Twitter CEO Elon Musk. In a tweet, Musk referred to the measures as a “temporary emergency measure” due to the excessive data pillaging that was impacting the service’s performance for regular users.
However, Twitter has not made any official announcement regarding the removal of the login requirement or provided details on the measures taken to address scraping concerns.
Interestingly, this move by Twitter comes just a day before Meta, formerly Facebook, is set to launch its own text-based app called Threads. It is worth noting that Threads briefly allowed users to view posts on the web without logging in before retracting that feature. It is unclear if Threads will adopt a similar approach and allow users to see posts without requiring an account.
In addition to removing the login requirement, Musk also imposed read limits of 1,000 posts per day for unverified users and 10,000 posts per day for verified users over the weekend as a measure to combat data scraping. According to a blog post by Twitter, this change has affected only a small percentage of users, and the impact on advertising has been minimal.
Twitter’s decision to reverse the login requirement may be seen as a response to user feedback and a move towards providing more accessibility to its content.
