Elon Musk claims Apple “threatened to withhold Twitter” from App Store
YouTube: TED, AppleAfter it pulled its ads from Twitter, new CEO Elon Musk is now claiming that Apple is threatening to remove Twitter from its App Store.
Ever since Musk took over Twitter after a massive $44 billion acquisition, the platform has hit a period of significant instability.
From the shaky rollout of the mocked Twitter Blue paid verification system to the unbanning of controversial figures like Andrew Tate and Donald Trump, the social media site has seen advertisers begin to leave in droves.
But now, Musk and Twitter are at odds with Apple as the Tesla CEO is claiming that the Twitter app may not remain in the App Store.
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Musk claims Apple is threatening to remove Twitter app
In a series of tweets on November 28, Elon Musk fired shots at the tech giant for its decisions to pull advertising from Twitter.
Musk called out Apple CEO Tim Cook, demanding answers for the decision, but neither Cook nor Apple have publicly commented on any decision to pull ads from Twitter.
But Musk alleges that not only is Apple pulling Twitter ads, but it might even de-list the site from its App Store. This would mean that, potentially, Twitter is not available on iOS devices other than through a web browser.
Again, neither Apple nor any Apple representatives have commented on the veracity of these allegations.
Internet responses to the claims has been, predictably, quite divided, with many Musk opponents saying that Apple declining to advertise or host Twitter is the epitome of free speech, something the CEO claimed Apple “hate[s]”.
Others, however, compared the possible delisting of Twitter with the removal of the Epic Games store from the App Store, saying that this move would be an example of Apple’s monopolistic power.
In fact, Musk seemed to agree with this take, quote retweeting the Fortnite 1984 video that was made in response to the delisting of Epic Games with the word “Accurate”.
That case involved a conflict between Apple and Epic Games over revenue sharing of items purchased in the Fortnite app on iOS devices.
Apple elected to delist the Fortnite app because the developer included a payment method which would circumvent needing to pay Apple’s 30% cut. Eventually, the case wound up in court where a judge ruled that Apple would have to allow for developers to include alternate payment options.
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