X Blocks Japan's Alert System For Posts During Earthquake

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        X Slammed After Blocking Japan's Natural Disaster Account For Posting Too Much During Earthquake
    

        Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times
    
Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, rate-limited the natural disaster alert program NERV's alerts during the deadly earthquake in Japan, eventually fixing the issue hours later.
By AB KeithJan 04, 2024
AB Keith
AB Keith is an educator turned roadtripper who is currently teaching virtually while touring the USA.  Her dream is to visit all the national parks and create a series of nonfiction children's books about NP adventures through the eyes of her dog, Backpack Benny.
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People on social media were outraged after X, formerly Twitter, blocked an account that provided natural disaster alerts in Japan for posting too much during the earthquake that left at least 55 dead.
The account, run by natural disaster alert program NERV, informed followers that it had been rate-limited "due to the frequent posting" following the 7.6 magnitude quake and urged them to download the NERV Disaster Prevention app amid the crisis.
After posting several updates, NERV tweeted:
“Our accounts appear to have been rate-limited due to the frequent posting of information updates regarding the Ishikawa Earthquake and Tsunami."“We highly recommend that you download the NERV Disaster Prevention app in order to keep receiving updates.”
 —  (@)
        
Given the pertinent and urgent information provided by the account, users called out owner Elon Musk for continuously making changes to rules and regulations on the platform, including the amount of tweets an account can post.
 —  (@)
        
While some argued that Musk's $8/month verification fee would have solved the issue...
@EN_NERV I don't understand the complaints. X is a service requiring an $8/month fee. It's not as if they individually exempt accounts from rate limits. The solution is simple \xe2\x80\x93 pay the $8. I'll cover the cost.
 —  (@)
        
... others noted that it's not that simple.
First of all, the company's Japanese language account does yield a blue checkmark, signifying that they do, in fact, pay the monthly fee.
However, posting through the company's API actually costs a minimum of $100 per month, which they already do pay. According to one X user, in order to mass-post without restrictions, NERV would have to pay $5000 each month.
 —  (@)
        
Needless to say, the Twitterverse was infuriated that people in danger were unable to receive potentially life-saving information.
@EN_NERV @EQTW Madness from @elonmusk to rate-limit these sorts of accounts and content.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk please remove api limits for our lives
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk you said you admire how Japanese use twitter. \n\nThis is why they use twitter. When things happen here, accurate and up-to-minute info is needed. When we can\xe2\x80\x99t get information here, the purpose of twitter ceases to exist.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk ! We get unlimited Nazi content on our feeds but less realtime information on a natural disaster emergency situation. Well done! All according to your genius plan I\xe2\x80\x99m sure.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk @Support please fix this. Lives may be at stake
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV Emergency real time updates account shouldn\xe2\x80\x99t be limited! @elonmusk
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk People\xe2\x80\x99s lives depend on constant updates during emergencies
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV Peak capitalism moment.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk costing lives?
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk @Support  you were told this app is used for people in need & needs to be accessible available. Here it is in real life disaster emergency.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk doesn\xe2\x80\x99t care if people will die without warning
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk 's allowing mis- and dis-information rife on Twitter results in the real emergency services not being able to operate. Shame on him. Blood on his hands, and not only in Ukraine.
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk \xe2\x80\xa6 you screwed up dude
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV Limiting official emergency accounts from broadcasting on Twitter is @elonmusk 2024 view of \xe2\x80\x98free speech\xe2\x80\x99.\nHopefully Japanese authorities have other channels and means at its disposal to get word out. And hopefully news is not as grim as initially reported. \n#japanearthquake
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV Utterly stupid move by Elon blocking accounts from tweeting, especially accounts made to update during disasters
 —  (@)
        

@EN_NERV @elonmusk Critical information should not be "Rate-Limited"
 —  (@)
        
Given the heavy backlash, as well as endless tags by upset platform users, the restrictions were eventually lifted.
NERV tweeted:
“Thanks to everyone’s concern, X reached out to us to urgently complete the process of registering both @UN_NERV and @EN_NERV as ‘Public Utility’ accounts, resolving the issue of API rate-limiting."“We are able to confirm that automatic posting of tweets has resumed as of 21:00.”
 —  (@)
        
We'd like to think that the CEO would learn a lesson or two from this, but...it's Elon.
While we're glad the information became available once again, it's unfortunate that in such an emergency, greed prevented people from getting updates that could have potentially saved lives.
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People on social media were outraged after X, formerly Twitter, blocked an account that provided natural disaster alerts in Japan for posting too much during the earthquake that left at least 55 dead.

The account, run by natural disaster alert program NERV, informed followers that it had been rate-limited "due to the frequent posting" following the 7.6 magnitude quake and urged them to download the NERV Disaster Prevention app amid the crisis.

After posting several updates, NERV tweeted:

“Our accounts appear to have been rate-limited due to the frequent posting of information updates regarding the Ishikawa Earthquake and Tsunami."

“We highly recommend that you download the NERV Disaster Prevention app in order to keep receiving updates.”

— (@)

Given the pertinent and urgent information provided by the account, users called out owner Elon Musk for continuously making changes to rules and regulations on the platform, including the amount of tweets an account can post.

— (@)

While some argued that Musk's $8/month verification fee would have solved the issue...

@EN_NERV I don't understand the complaints. X is a service requiring an $8/month fee. It's not as if they individually exempt accounts from rate limits. The solution is simple \xe2\x80\x93 pay the $8. I'll cover the cost.
— (@)

... others noted that it's not that simple.

First of all, the company's Japanese language account does yield a blue checkmark, signifying that they do, in fact, pay the monthly fee.

However, posting through the company's API actually costs a minimum of $100 per month, which they already do pay. According to one X user, in order to mass-post without restrictions, NERV would have to pay $5000 each month.

— (@)

Needless to say, the Twitterverse was infuriated that people in danger were unable to receive potentially life-saving information.

@EN_NERV @EQTW Madness from @elonmusk to rate-limit these sorts of accounts and content.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk please remove api limits for our lives
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk you said you admire how Japanese use twitter. \n\nThis is why they use twitter. When things happen here, accurate and up-to-minute info is needed. When we can\xe2\x80\x99t get information here, the purpose of twitter ceases to exist.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk ! We get unlimited Nazi content on our feeds but less realtime information on a natural disaster emergency situation. Well done! All according to your genius plan I\xe2\x80\x99m sure.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk @Support please fix this. Lives may be at stake
— (@)

@EN_NERV Emergency real time updates account shouldn\xe2\x80\x99t be limited! @elonmusk
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk People\xe2\x80\x99s lives depend on constant updates during emergencies
— (@)

@EN_NERV Peak capitalism moment.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk costing lives?
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk @Support you were told this app is used for people in need & needs to be accessible available. Here it is in real life disaster emergency.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk doesn\xe2\x80\x99t care if people will die without warning
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk 's allowing mis- and dis-information rife on Twitter results in the real emergency services not being able to operate. Shame on him. Blood on his hands, and not only in Ukraine.
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk \xe2\x80\xa6 you screwed up dude
— (@)

@EN_NERV Limiting official emergency accounts from broadcasting on Twitter is @elonmusk 2024 view of \xe2\x80\x98free speech\xe2\x80\x99.\nHopefully Japanese authorities have other channels and means at its disposal to get word out. And hopefully news is not as grim as initially reported. \n#japanearthquake
— (@)

@EN_NERV Utterly stupid move by Elon blocking accounts from tweeting, especially accounts made to update during disasters
— (@)

@EN_NERV @elonmusk Critical information should not be "Rate-Limited"
— (@)

Given the heavy backlash, as well as endless tags by upset platform users, the restrictions were eventually lifted.

NERV tweeted:

“Thanks to everyone’s concern, X reached out to us to urgently complete the process of registering both @UN_NERV and @EN_NERV as ‘Public Utility’ accounts, resolving the issue of API rate-limiting."

“We are able to confirm that automatic posting of tweets has resumed as of 21:00.”

— (@)

We'd like to think that the CEO would learn a lesson or two from this, but...it's Elon.

While we're glad the information became available once again, it's unfortunate that in such an emergency, greed prevented people from getting updates that could have potentially saved lives.

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X Slammed After Blocking Japan's Natural Disaster Account For Posting Too Much During Earthquake

Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, rate-limited the natural disaster alert program NERV's alerts during the deadly earthquake in Japan, eventually fixing the issue hours later.

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