Twitter is making API access free again for some government departments. This happens when they use the social network to get updates about weather, transportation, or emergency reports. API access was closed for the first time to most users, but Twitter received a lot of criticism for this.

Twitter writes in short message It allows some notifications to be loaded via the API again. The network specifically mentions weather alerts, “transportation” updates, and emergency alerts. This is only permitted for services from authorized government organizations and “publicly available services”. Twitter verifies government agencies with a gold or gray check mark, but since the company introduced the Twitter Blue subscription, many government agencies around the world are not verified.

Twitter allows the services to use the API again for “these important purposes”. The company does not write the restrictions and permissions involved. It’s also not clear what exactly Twitter means by its weather warnings and transit updates.

Twitter has restricted access to its API since the beginning of this year. The company later introduced different pricing tiers for this API, but the free version has since become so limited that many companies have stopped using it. The cheapest API has also become too expensive for many automated services. As a result, many services, such as New York subway service, Twitter outside the schedule changes. Many hurricane and tsunami warning systems, for example, are no longer working, which has drawn much criticism from Twitter.

One of the most important use cases for the Twitter API has always been public benefit. Verified government or publicly owned services that tweet weather alerts, transit updates, and emergency notifications may use the API, for these important purposes, free of charge.

– Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) May 2, 2023