by What is Elon Musk? making?
The new owner of Twitter decided to take a fight with Apple on Monday, posting a series of tweets criticizing the tech company and memes claiming that it will “go to war” with the maker of the iPhone.
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It appears that Musk’s problem with Apple was sparked by a dispute over the future of the Twitter app. Musk alleged in a tweet that Apple “plans to remove Twitter from the App Store.”
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While it’s currently unclear if Apple has any actual plans to do so, Musk has previously addressed the possibility of the issue. Musk claimed over the weekend that he would look to create his own smartphone if Apple cracked down on the Twitter app.
Apple previously removed apps from the App Store for content that didn’t comply with company policies. The most analogous example was when Apple remote the right-wing social media platform Parler from its App Store shortly after the events of January 6, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building. Parler’s lax content moderation policies were quickly thrust into the spotlight, showing just how much hateful and violent rhetoric was allowed on the platform. Both Apple and Google launched the app from their respective app stores at the time. Given Musk’s current direction for Twitter, it sounds like he thinks the app will suffer the same fate. The researchers have found an increase in hate speech on Twitter since Musk took over and refunded numerous previously banned accounts, such as Donald Trump’s.
Musk began his tirade of Apple-related tweets by first calling out the company for allegedly stopping advertising on Twitter.
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“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do you hate free speech in America?” Musk tweeted, even tagging Apple CEO Tim Cook in a follow-up. “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
If Apple stopped advertising on Twitter, it’s certainly not the only one. a new report found that half of Twitter’s biggest advertisers have stopped spending money on ad campaigns on the platform since Musk took over due to various concerns about brand safety. musk himself admitted fleeing advertisers soon after he took over.
Elon Musk Says He Will Make His Own Smartphone If Apple Bans Twitter
In his Twitter spiel, Musk highlighted some answers of users who shared issues they were having with listing their apps on the App Store for content-related concerns.
“Who else has Apple censored?” Musk tweeted earlier exchange a parody video created by Fortnite developer Epic Games when the company had its own battle with Apple over App Store policy in 2020.
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the Fortnite 2020 from the creator dispute with Apple topping out the iPhone maker’s 30 percent revenue cut for all in-app purchases, a significant amount for Epic Games which had reportedly grossed over a billion dollars on iOS. Epic implemented a workaround for its users to bypass Apple’s cutout, which caused Apple to remove Fortnite from the app store. The hugely popular game hasn’t appeared on the App Store since.
However, Musk should keep in mind that Epic Games could afford to play hardball with Apple, as only about 7 percent of Fortnite revenue came from iOS. Twitter is much more dependent on Apple. About 80 percent of Twitter users access the platform through their mobile device. Apple dominates the smartphone space in the US, with more than 50 percent of the total market share. Also, when Twitter’s paid subscription plan, Twitter Blue, was active, it was only Available for iOS users.
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Musk then decided to stop fighting Apple over its paused ad campaigns on Twitter and its App Store content policies, and instead focused on that “secret” 30 percent cut of App Store revenue.
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“Did you know that Apple puts a 30% secret tax on everything you buy through its App Store?” I ask Musk on Apple’s well-publicized revenue-sharing deal with its developers.
Some Twitter users responded to Musk by showing him videos and screenshots of then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. announcing the App Store revenue division at Apple’s iPhone public event in 2008.
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It seems unlikely that Musk will be able to change Apple’s mind about his 30 percent commission. again, yes Fortnite billions couldn’t make it, the 150,000 Twitter users who pay $8 for Twitter Blue via iOS in-app purchases probably won’t either.
Regardless of one’s opinion of how Musk has been running Twitter since he acquired the company and took it private last month, publicly “going to war” with Apple is likely to be a losing battle.
