Elon Musk's Twitter Tweaks Nuked These 13 Useful Emergency Service Bots

Powerful, disruptive tsunamis can occur with little advanced warning which makes real-time social media alerts noting their appearance all the more critical. That critical safety measure was put at risk over the weekend. On Friday, the National Weather Service’s tsunami alerts Twitter page said the company had begun limiting its automated tweets which affected its ability to post-tsunami warnings, advisories, watches, and information statements.

“During a #tsunami event, our primary mission is to message our Warning Points through official

@NWS channels,” the NWS wrote. “This serves the most people in the fastest way possible. Social media posts are automated to speed up the posting process until more help can arrive.”

The account encouraged followers to download the NOAA and Fema weather apps to ensure they receive up to date alerts. In extreme cases, the NWS said the Emergency Alert System would issue an alert on television and over radio.

Fortunately for anyone potentially in a tsunami’s path, the tsunami alert page issued an update two days later saying Twitter’s development team had restored its API access.

The National Weather Service pushed out tweets from at least five of its regional accounts on April 15 saying Twitter had begun limiting their automated tweets which they said prevents them from automatically posting weather warnings.

“We will continue to provide general updates, but always ensure that you have multiple means for receiving weather information & alerts,” the tweets read.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regularly monitors atmospheric conditions and occasionally shoots out weather warnings and tips to its 1.2 million followers on Twitter. The agency didn’t issue a tweet about the API changes though a spokesperson acknowledged the challenging environment in an interview with a local Fort Wane, Indiana publication.

“We are aware of the announced changes to Twitter’s API service,” the spokesperson said “We will work with Twitter on the impact this change may have on our Twitter feeds. Communications via social media is a supplemental service provided by the National Weather Service to extend the reach of NWS information.”

New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, which serves around 15.3 million within New York and Connecticut, said Twitter’s API changes had prevented it from posting service alerts. The MTA’s told its followers to check the agency’s website for real-time service information and to turn to WhatsApp for help with subway and bus services. It’s unclear if Twitter addressed the issue with the MTA.

Nearly 3,000 miles away from New York, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Twitter page was also impacted. The BART account published a tweet saying it received an email from Twitter saying informing them it was suspended from accessing its API. The agency said it was “disappointed” with Twitter’s decision and advised its followers to turn instead to the BART website or download the BART app for up to date transit notifications in the interim.

“Twitter has been our most successful social platform,” BART wrote. “We have far more followers here than anywhere. We’ve gone viral many times for support of public transit and met incredible riders here. As we consider other platforms, we can’t help but feel disappointed by Twitter’s decision.”

Twitter apparently saw user frustration surrounding the BART’s suspension. Hours after the original tweet, BART posted a follow-up saying someone from Twitter’s development team reached out to them and unsuspended their account.

Twitter’s API debacle has forced some smaller public health accounts like Plume Plotter to go back to the drawing board. Plume Plotter runs an automated Twitter account that attempts to track the state of air pollution caused by current and planned incinerators around the country. The account posted a copy of a message it received from Twitter’s developer platform saying it had been suspended from using Twitter’s API. Now, the account has had to revert to manually drafting every update.

The Spotter Network, a severe storm tracking site which describes itself as a “network of information,” bringing together storm spotters, storm chasers, and public servants said Twitter’s new API rule meant they could no longer continue operating their automated Twitter account. In lieu of its automated account, the Spotter Network said followers could still access their real time data on its website.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with this move as we could never afford to pay for the service at the level we send this life-saving information at on busy severe weather days,” Spotter Network wrote.

Even relatively small, public service-oriented weather bots faced Twitter’s wrath. Calgary Weather Records, an account with less than 3,000 followers that semi-regularly tweets weather updates issued a tweet on Saturday saying Twitter had suspended its API accounts. Like others, Calgary Weather advised its followers to follow the account on Mastodon and Reddit for more update information.