Can't post on X? There are new rules for non-premium users

Recently, several X non-premium users have noticed that they’re unable to post. It keeps failing to send the post and displays error messages such as “This request looks like it might be automated.”

You can find various reports on X complaining that they’re unable to send posts. Later on, a thread on Reddit spotted various changes to the posting limits of free X users. While most other limits have existed for a while, strict posting limits are fairly new.

Via the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine, I’ve observed that the older limit was 2400 posts per day as of May 5, and this applied to everyone, including non-verified users.

The limit was likely revised on or before May 16, which is coincidentally the same timeframe when the complaints started swelling up. There’s a chance that it was revised days before May 16, because the interval of tracking on the WayBack Machine is unclear. You can find the old screenshot below.

The new rules state that only 50 original posts and 200 replies per day are permitted for unverified accounts that don’t have the X Premium subscription. This limit is further broken down into “sub-limits,” which apply for semi-hourly intervals.

Users have been receiving such pop-ups for many days now, and we initially linked that to efforts from X to curb automation, as even Premium users were getting the same error. However, free users now have officially confirmed posting limits, which makes it an entirely new development.

One post on X suggested that the “50 original posts” limit allegedly applies to reposts and quotes too, but there’s no concrete evidence to suggest it’s true. The rest of the limits are fairly standard, like 500 DMs per day, a follow limit of 400 people per day, etc. You can read the entire breakdown on the X Help Center.

When free users surpass the new rate limits, they get locked out and aren’t permitted to post anything. The posts just get sent to drafts, or the system declares them as automated bots. X claims that these limits are put in place to “reduce downtimes.”

Confusingly, in the latter half, the Help Center article still mentions “2400 updates” as the daily limit. It’s possible that they are referring to Premium users here.

Users reacted negatively to this, calling it a blatant push for the X Premium subscription. Others called it “Putting free speech behind a paywall.” A lot of people are hitting the new limits before the day ends. A minority of people are seemingly comfortable with the limit of 50 posts a day, but it won’t suit power users.

It’s worth noting that X Help Page refers to limits as “Current”, which means there’s always a possibility of them being revised. However, how long this new change will get retained isn’t clear as of now.

Editor’s note: The article was updated to clarify alleged details about the 50 original posts a day limit applying to RT’s and Quote Posts.

Disclaimer: The Featured Image was generated with AI.

We stand out from the tech-media crowd because we break news stories; we mainly bring you stuff that you won’t find anywhere in the mainstream tech media. Our stories have been picked up by some of the world’s most popular websites and media outlets—more info is available here.