Elon Musk is on the agenda with one more allegation. This time it’s Apple removing Twitter, Musk’s most sensational buy-out of last month, from the AppStore.
Elon Musk went out on Monday against Apple, the largest advertiser on Twitter, as he claims in a tweet that the tech giant threatened to remove the social network from its AppStore without warning and mostly ceased running ads on his platform Twitter.
Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
The outburst served as a reminder of the enormous influence Apple, the most valuable firm in the world has over the outcome of the world’s richest man’s Twitter gamble. The outburst also hinted at the potential role Apple may play in restraining Musk’s anarchic rule over the social network.
In the past, Apple has canceled App Store rights from businesses that had violated its security guidelines and hosted violent or other unacceptable content.
Allegations of Apple removing Twitter from AppStore
Elon Musk said last week that the internet giant was threatening to “withhold” Twitter from the App Store, which set off the drama between the two parties. Musk added that Apple had “mostly stopped” running ads on the platform.
Musk claims that Apple has not yet explained the potential removal of Twitter from its platform. However, moderation is probably to blame, something Apple has been vocal about in the past with services like Discord and Tumblr.
When it comes to the quantity of adult content, false information, and hate speech it has housed up to this point, Twitter has gotten off rather lightly.
In a recent interview with CBS, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated:
“They say that they are going to continue to moderate. I’m counting on them to continue to do that”.
Trump, Jordan Peterson, and Andrew Tate were among the controversial accounts that Musk just opted to unban. He has also openly advocated for the reinstatement of all blocked Twitter accounts. While arguing that banning these accounts is a violation of freedom of speech, Musk directed his question to Apple in the following tweet:
Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Apple has not yet given an official response to this tweet.
Musk’s anger could put Apple under pressure
Musk started tweeting about Apple’s 30% commission on all sales made through the App Store around the same time as alleging Apple removing Twitter from AppStore. Even though this tax has been around for a while and has received attention from regulatory agencies, the media, and major corporations, Musk still refers to it as a “secret” tax.
Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store? https://t.co/LGkPZ4EYcz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Given that Twitter Blue will cost US$7.99 from now on, the CEO has probably become aware of this. Losing 30% to Apple would be devastating given the massive amount of debt the business is in as a result of Musk’s takeover.
The tweets were quickly noticed by Washington lawmakers, who have now put out bipartisan legislation to limit the influence that Apple and Google have over the app market. Rep. Ken Buck, who has collaborated in pushing for antitrust legislation that targets significant tech businesses, tweeted:
“This is why we need to end the App Store duopoly before the end of this year,”
“No one should have this kind of market power.”
The way that Apple and Google have implemented their app store guidelines has drawn criticism following Musk’s tweets. After they decided to block Parler, a social network popular with followers of former president Donald Trump, in the wake of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the firms came under heavy fire from conservatives.
The action marked a shift for Apple, which in the past had contacted developers to collaborate on enhancing its content management tools.
Is Apple removing Twitter from AppStore? We’ll pass the news on to you as soon as we get an official response from Apple. For more Twitter news, you might want to check our article titled Twitter 2.0 explained by Elon Musk
