A Twitter user made a visualisation of the groups of people he follows. The resemblance to a world map was a happy coincidence. | Graphic: Edouard Leurent/Github

For a long time, Twitter – now known as ‘X’ – used to be a data goldmine for researchers. With the aid of an interface, it was relatively easy to study the behaviour of users, social movements and the spread of disinformation. But since March 2023, Twitter has been charging over USD 40,000 per month for access. The Coalition for Independent Technology Research has now published an open letter, warning of the consequences of these restrictions. 

According to the British online newspaper iNews, researchers have even been compelled to delete their data retroactively since May this year. This means that they can no longer disclose the basis on which they have been able to draw their research conclusions. “This decision by Twitter may substantially impact reproducibility”, says Manoel Horta Ribeiro, a data researcher at EPFL.