Elon Musk, the newly acquired owner of Twitter, has taken to criticising Apple for the laws and tax restrictions of the Apple App Store. The owner of Tesla said that the business had blocked Twitter from being accessible through the App Store without providing a reason for doing so. He also stated that Apple had ceased advertising on the social media platform. Musk claims that Apple was putting pressure on Twitter to moderate material with its demands. As a direct result of his tweets, a significant number of Musk’s admirers and followers have initiated a campaign on the site in favour of “free expression.”
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Despite the fact that the rumoured reason why Apple is supposedly threatening to “withhold” Twitter from the App Store has not been confirmed, tweets and comments made by Musk imply that it may have something to do with the social media platform’s new moderation policy to protect “free expression.” Despite the fact that Apple has not yet confirmed these accusations, this is not the first time the company that makes the iPhone has threatened to remove a software from its App Store.
For instance, after the riots that took place in the US Capitol building at the beginning of the previous year, it pulled Parler, an alternative to Twitter, from its App Store. In May of 2021, the app was brought back online after Parler revised its content and moderation procedures. Lbry has made statements that are quite similar to these, stating that Apple allegedly instructed the company to “limit some search phrases.” According to the statement made by the firm, “Apple may create amazing products, but they have been opposed to free expression for some time.”
In addition, the reason Apple removed its advertisements from the platform is still a mystery, despite Musk’s claims that the firm does not wish to support free speech. According to Reuters, Apple paid an estimated $131,600 on Twitter ads between November 10 and 16, a significant decrease from the $220,800 the company spent on Twitter ads between October 16 and 22, the week before Musk clinched the deal. According to the survey, the iPhone manufacturer was the most successful advertiser on Twitter during the first three months of 2022.
In-app purchases are subject to a 30 percent transaction fee from both Apple and Google, which Musk finds unacceptable. Twitter Blue is going to be made available in every country for a price of $8. That means the corporation would receive a cut of thirty percent from each and every subscriber. Musk stated, “Did you realise that Apple places a covert tax of thirty percent on everything you buy through their App Store?”
