Several meteorological services, such as the US National Weather Service (NWS), have indicated that Twitter has removed their access to the programming interface of the social network, thus preventing the publication of automatic weather alerts, reports the specialized media mashable.
By removing this access, Twitter at the same time prevents certain services from working, such as these weather alerts that aim to warn citizens in the event of a storm, storm, fire outbreak, or even larger-magnitude weather disasters. They thus allow users to know the actions to follow in these cases of emergency, to take shelter more quickly, etc.
In an effort to fight against automated accounts, Elon Musk had announced that access to the Twitter programming interface would now be paid, in particular to prevent the publication of automatic tweets, a specificity of the “bots” present on the network. .
a false rumor
However, last week it was rumored that exceptions would be made for “useful” automatic accounts, allowing them unrestricted access to the API. A novelty very well received by users, according to Mashable. However, it came from a fake account posing as an official of the social network.
Mashable contacted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates the National Weather Service. The institution informed him of a still unofficial report sent to the corresponding services by Twitter.
Additionally, several services deemed in the national interest were able to regain API access, but only a current-dated model that Twitter intends to shut down in a few weeks. This is particularly the case for “NWS Tsunami Alerts”, which saw their access restored on April 16, without knowing if this is a temporary situation or not. Specialist journalists Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton describe a chaotic situation, as explanations are lacking from service providers.
less reliability
The NWS also informed Mashable of the new rules for how these auto-tweets work, if implemented: Auto-tweets will be limited to 50 every 24 hours. Which means, in essence, that the account will no longer be able to control which tweet gets posted or not, making the service less reliable.
“Since 2014, the NWS has used the Twitter service to automatically post the latest alerts for tornadoes, severe storms, flooding, all in one news feed followed by mainstream media, emergency services, or any concerned citizen. bad weather. For each noticed an emergency, a few seconds can make the difference between life and death, “laments the NWS in its press release to Mashable.
Other services are concerned, such as the Ontario Meteorological Institute in Canada or “LastQuake”, which lists earthquakes.
Source: BFM TV
