The Impact of Twitter API Loss for Research
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On Thursday, February 2, 2023, Twitter announced that it planned to end free access to its public API. Recognizing the dramatic impact this would have on public-interest research projects around the globe, the Coalition for Independent Technology Research released an open letter highlighting the disastrous consequences of this decision and began organizing mutual aid for impacted researchers. Those who signed the Coalition’s letter, requested mutual aid, and/or offered to provide such aid could also optionally complete a questionnaire about the impact of the API restrictions on their work. The questionnaire has received 159 responses to date, the results of which are summarized below.
Please note that the findings are based on a convenience sample. This is not a scientific survey. Its findings are not generalizable. However, they do help illustrate the breadth and depth of the impact on public-interest research, particularly given they were gathered in such a short period. We know the list of impacted projects is much longer than we have gathered to date.
The researchers and Coalition members listed at the top of this document have led the effort to organize mutual aid and analyze the questionnaire results.
Recommended citation: Brown, M. A., Lukito, J., Yang, K. (2023). The Impact of Twitter API Loss for Research, 2023.
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