- Elon Musk proposed charging $100 a month for access to Twitter’s API.
- He said the $100 fee together with ID verification for Twitter’s API would clean up “bad” bots.
- Free API was being “abused badly” by bot scammers, Musk tweeted.
Elon Musk on Thursday suggested charging $100 a month for access to Twitter’s application program interface (API).
In a tweet, Musk said free API was being “abused badly” by “bot scammers & opinion manipulators.” It was easy for 100,000 bots “to do bad things” when there was no cost or verification process in place for API access, he said.
“Just ~$100/month for API access with ID verification will clean things up greatly,” Musk added.
His proposal followed Twitter’s Thursday announcement that it could start charging for access to the platform’s API from February 9.
“Twitter data are among the many world’s strongest data sets,” the corporate tweeted. “We’re committed to enabling fast & comprehensive access so you may proceed to construct with us.”
Twitter didn’t immediately reply to Insider’s request for comment.
Twitter offers free and paid packages for its API, in accordance with its website. The Premium package costs between $149 and $2,499 a month, depending on what number of tweets a developer requests.
Developers can use Twitter’s API to create third-party services, reminiscent of Tweetbot and Twitterrific. Nevertheless, a few of these tools were forced to shut down after Twitter blocked them from accessing its API in mid-January. The Information reported there was speculation Twitter could have suspended access since it did not boost ad revenue.
Some Tweetbot and Twitterrific users told Insider they were indignant that access to third-party apps had been withdrawn and said they were considering leaving Twitter.
Musk’s proposed $100 monthly charge comes at a time when he’s attempting to monetize more of Twitter’s features. After he acquired Twitter in late October, he introduced paid verification for Twitter Blue, costing $8 a month.