Readit Newsthrowmeawayy commented on NYPD Arrests Cyclist for Uncovering Obscured License Plate, Lets Driver Go jalopnik.com/nypd-arrests... · Posted by u/quantified
The bicyclist's mistake was waiting for the police.
> * Twitter allows that number to remain so high to avoid introducing friction like captcha into real users' experiences
This doesn't pass the smell test in my opinion. Given that everyone who tries to create an account without a phone number has to go through the friction of getting their account locked immediately, they clearly don't care about this sort of friction. Not to mention the friction of just trying to view a tweet which has been discussed at length on HN before.
I have a Twitter account with > 10k followers that is a few years old. Created without a phone number, and of course, immediately locked. Somehow, managed get it unlocked and still going on a few years later without a phone number. Though, I'm always in fear of the ban hammer.