Elon Musk said in a series of tweets that Apple threatened to block Twitter app from its App Store, without explaining the reason, and also mentioned that the iPhone maker had stopped advertising on the social networking platform.
The CEO of Twitter and Tesla said Apple was pressuring Twitter over content moderation demands.
This action – which was not confirmed by Apple – would not be strange, because the company applied its rules permanently and removed applications such as “Gab” and “Parler” previously.
The companies said at the time that Apple took back Parler – which is popular with conservatives in the United States – in 2021 after the app updated its content and adhered to Apple’s terms.
Musk – who bought Twitter for $ 44 billion – said in a tweet, “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate freedom of speech in America?”
Later, he tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking, “What’s going on here?”
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
And Apple (the most valuable company in the world) spent an estimated $131,600 on Twitter ads between November 10 and November 16, down from $220,800 between October 16 and October 22. That was a week before Musk closed the Twitter deal, according to ad measurement firm Pathmatics.
The Washington Post reported, quoting an internal document on Twitter, that in the first quarter of 2022, Apple was the number one advertiser on Twitter, spending $48 million and accounting for more than 4% of total revenue for the period.
“Going to war”
One of Musk’s recent tweets complained about Apple imposing fees of up to 30% on software developers for in-app purchases, as Musk published a note suggesting that he was ready to “go to war” with Apple instead of paying the commission.
These fees imposed by application stores have sparked criticism and lawsuits from companies such as Epic Games, the manufacturer of the game “Fortnite”.
These fees could burden Musk’s attempts to increase Twitter subscription revenue to compensate for the exodus of advertisers due to their concerns about the new content policy in the era of the American billionaire. Companies such as General Mills and Audi of America have been suspended. ) the luxury automaker has been advertising on Twitter since the acquisition.
Musk said earlier this November that the company had witnessed a “massive” decline in revenue, and advertising revenue represented about 90% of Twitter’s revenue.
Musk – who describes himself as having absolute freedom of expression, and whose company has in the past few days restored several Twitter accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump – blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.
