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Updated November 29th, 2022 at 12:15 IST

Elon Musk goes to war with Apple; questions Tim Cook point blank & alleges '30% App Store

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the American multinational technology company, Apple, has threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store with providing reason

Reported by: Anwesha Majumdar
Elon Musk
Image: AP | Image:self
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently acquired the microblogging firm Twitter, claimed that the American multinational technology company, Apple, has threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store without providing the social media site with a reason. Musk made these statements on Monday. According to the CNN report, this action might be disastrous for the business for which Musk recently paid $44 billion. Besides this, the iPhone maker had ceased running advertisements on Twitter, which led the new Twitter CEO to wonder if the tech industry detested free speech. 

Taking to Twitter, Musk said, “Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Further, in a series of Tweets, the new CEO of the microblogging site addressed the possible App Store ban. While talking about the advertisement, Elon asked, “Do they hate free speech in America?”   

Furthermore, to get clarity, Elon Musk asked Apple CEO Tim Cook in a tweet, “What’s going on here @tim_cook?” 

Apart from this, Musk seemed to have admitted that Apple has a problem with Twitter content control. Musk said "yes", when a journalist user asked if Apple was "threatening Twitter’s presence in the App Store or otherwise making moderation demands", The Guardian reported.  

Removing Twitter from Apple's or Google's app stores would hurt the company

The recent Twitter rant demonstrates the strained relationship between Musk and Apple, one of the main gatekeepers for mobile applications along with Google. As per the CNN report, long before assuming control of Twitter, the Tesla CEO claimed that while the automaker was having financial difficulties, he thought about selling it to Apple, but Cook declined to meet with him. 

It is pertinent to mention that removing Twitter from Apple's or Google's app stores would hurt its company, which is already having trouble dealing with the loss of advertising as a result of Musk's purchase and a bumpy start to developing its subscription service. Musk, who paid $44 billion for Twitter last month, is under pressure as some businesses cut back on spending. 

Even though Musk stated that he wants to monetise Twitter verification by making it a paid membership service, the vast bulk of the site's income now comes from advertising. According to The Washington Post, Apple was the largest Twitter advertiser in the first quarter of 2022, spending $48 million on the social media platform. 

Furthermore, companies that have stopped spending in recent weeks include General Mills, the manufacturer of Cheerios, and Volkswagen. A watchdog website, Media Matters, stated last week that half of Twitter's leading advertisers had stopped using the platform due to worries about Twitter's future. 

As per the US tech website, The Verge, Apple's media agency Omnicom highlighted the Silicon Valley company's suspension of advertising on the app is due to the fear for Apple's "brand safety". 

(Image: AP)

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Published November 29th, 2022 at 08:05 IST

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