Twitter has initiated legal action against four unidentified entities in Texas over allegations of data scraping, according to a report from local TV station WFAA. This legal move helps explain the recent imposition of daily reading limits on tweets for users of the platform owned by Elon Musk.
The ABC affiliate revealed that the rate of automated sign-up requests originating from the IP addresses of the unnamed defendants significantly exceeded the volume a typical individual could generate, placing considerable strain on Twitter’s servers.
The lawsuit was filed on July 6 in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the lawsuit’s existence, and Twitter did not respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.
Musk has attributed the limits on tweet viewership, which have been in effect since early July, to the data scraping activities identified in the lawsuit, a decision that has drawn widespread backlash.
On Thursday, Musk reiterated this rationale in response to a tweet discussing the legal action. He stated, “Several entities tried to scrape every tweet ever made in a short period of time. That is why we had to put rate limits in place,” via his official Twitter account.
Several entities tried to scrape every tweet ever made in a short period of time. That is why we had to put rate limits in place.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2023
However, Musk did not confirm or deny the specifics of the lawsuit during his statement.
His decision to limit tweet access coincided with the launch of Meta’s Threads app, a direct competitor to Twitter, which has rapidly accumulated over 100 million sign-ups within just five days of its debut.
In addition, Twitter has threatened legal action against Meta, claiming that the company hired former Twitter employees who were privy to trade secrets and confidential information.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
