By Oyintari Ben
Elon Musk asserted on Monday that Apple has “threatened” to remove Twitter from its iOS app store. This action might be disastrous for the business Musk recently paid $44 billion for.
In one of numerous tweets directed at Apple (AAPL) and its CEO on Monday, Musk stated, “Apple (AAPL) has also threatened to withdraw Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.” Musk was criticizing Apple (AAPL) and its CEO for purported actions that could harm Twitter’s business.
Musk claimed that Apple has largely stopped using Twitter advertisements in a subsequent post. He said, seemingly in regard to his frequently expressed wish to support his vision of free speech on the platform, “Do they detest free speech in America.” “What’s going on here, Tim Cook [CEO of Apple]?” Musk continued in a subsequent tweet. Additionally, he questioned Apple’s size, asserted that it practices “censorship,” and drew attention to the 30% transaction fee the company imposes on big app developers in order to be included in its app store.
The tweetstorm demonstrates the strained relationship between Musk and Apple, one of the main gatekeepers for mobile applications along with Google. Long before taking 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.
Removing Twitter from Apple’s or Google’s app stores would impact its company, which is already having trouble dealing with the loss of advertisers as a result of Musk’s takeover and a bumpy start to developing its subscription service.
Since acquiring control of the business, Musk, who has long been a prolific and critical tweeter, has not slowed down at all. And he maintained that engagement had more than made up for any revenue losses. Attacking his adversaries, whether they are those who oppose him personally or “free speech,” appears to be part of the approach.
Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, who departed the business earlier this month, said that Twitter had already started to get calls from app store operators following Musk’s acquisition in an opinion piece that was published in the New York Times last week. The company’s disregard for Google’s and Apple’s app store policies, according to Roth, could have “catastrophic” consequences.
