The new COVID-19 stream endpoint will allow researchers and developers to access the millions of tweets about the coronavirus in real-time. Though use of the API is free, interested developers will need to apply in order to gain access. Twitter says it will screen applicants, who must have experience working with Twitter data, as well as “the necessary infrastructure in place to process, store, and analyze the many millions of Tweets being generated every day.”

Studying tweets related to the coronavirus pandemic could help researchers better understand a range of issues related to the pandemic, including misinformation, crisis management and how an increased reliance on automated content moderation affects conversations.