@feditips And pre-Musk Twitter had already rate limited the number of people that could use a third-party client app.

They initially allowed third-party clients in their growth stage. Then they saw Tweetdeck could be a threat by forking folks off into its own network. Bought it and changed the rules a couple of times to avoid another potential Tweetdeck down the line. Looks like Space Karen just locked the gate completely. (An API key is a key to a gate you don’t own.)