cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/513993

So today I clicked a twitter link because companies like to use it for official announcements, only to be greeted with a login page. Was annoyed then I remembered nitter exists. It just prompted me to install Privacy Redirect which I should have done ages ago.

Github: https://github.com/SimonBrazell/privacy-redirect

Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/pmcmeagblkinmogikoikkdjiligflglb/related

Firefox Browser Add-ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-redirect/

Looks like twitter waited for the reddit API changes to do push this change to try to do it under the radar.

  • @[email protected]English
    3•2 years ago

    Elon posted this on Twitter (quoted from an private blog since I currently have no way to access twitter):

    Temporary emergency measure. We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users! Several hundred organizations (maybe more) were scraping Twitter data extremely aggressively, to the point where it was affecting the real user experience.

    Lets hope that they lift this ban soon.

    • @[email protected]English
      10•2 years ago

      Reality: Musk has degraded Twitter’s performance to the point they can’t handle unauthorized access.

    • @[email protected]English
      7•2 years ago

      OT but it amazes me at what point musk sounds like trump when posting lol, he really just is technotrump

      • @[email protected]English
        4•2 years ago

        I’m definitely not using this platform anymore, but Twitter being private also locks away a lot of valuable content (including government announcements, as someone mentioned).

          • @[email protected]English
            3•2 years ago

            If the reason for the ban is massive server load due to content scraping for AI models, that could become an issue for the fediverse as well. Our infrastructure is funded by donations and has much less performance and resiliency than big tech companies.

            We might reach a point where the negative impacts on the environment caused by AI outweigh the benefits, just like it already happened with blockchains.

            • @[email protected]English
              2•2 years ago

              If the reason for the ban is massive server load due to content scraping for AI models

              He’s not genuine whatsoever. I’ll believe this was the reason to lock Twitter when I see evidence of it. Remember how he wasn’t going to [layoff 75% staff; block payments for utilities / rent; cancel bonuses; etc]? Troll troll troll.

            • @[email protected]OPEnglish
              -1•2 years ago

              That’s not ai’s problem but applications/sites problem.

              Edit: and ai will accelerate the progression of our technology and science by a crazy amount so I REALLY doubt that the impact on the environment will outweight positive impacts made by ai’s.

        • mochi
          1•2 years ago

          Governments should just set up a single user ActivityPub instance to broadcast their updates.

    • soundasleep
      1•2 years ago

      If only there was some sort of reasonably-priced computer-readable service or platform that organisations could use to collect data without degrading the service of users…

      • lowdownfool
        1•2 years ago

        Exactly. API users migrated to using scrapers instead of paying what NuTwitter wants for shitty service. Who could have foreseen that?

    • onepinksheep
      6•2 years ago

      And that, Musky, is why sites generally provide an API and don’t lock it behind prohibitive pricing. Because the alternative is to scrape your site, and that’s more resource intensive for the site in question.

    • Nougat
      1•2 years ago

      … data pillaged …

      Meaning … people were using your publicly available website?