The land of the blue bird, Twitter, was recently bought out by Elon Musk for a whopping sum of $44 billion. The day the deal was finalized and Elon Musk sat at the head of the table, Twitter saw massive changes. From sacking a large number of employees to losing some of its top 100 advertisers, the new era of Twitter seems to be in quite a bit of an ordeal.
Well, it is not over just yet as problems keep piling up on top of each other. The most recent being that one of the top dogs, Apple, has threatened to withhold Twitter from the app store as revealed by Elon Musk on his Twitter account. He also stated that the company didn’t give any reason for it, either.
Elon Musk Threatened by Apple?
The new head of Twitter, Elon Musk, took to his Twitter account to reveal that Apple has “threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store.” He also added that he wasn’t told why Apple plans on pulling the app. He called out Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook in a tweet mentioning him and asking “What’s going on here?”
The situation was quick to catch the attention of Twitter users who took no time to express their opinion on the whole matter. While some were choosing their sides, others didn’t seem to care at all.
In his war with Apple, Musk posted a series of tweets bashing the company. Musk has been an avid supporter of free speech and this comes into play on Twitter, as well. He recently reinstated several accounts that were permanently banned from the platform, including that of ex-U.S. president, Donald Trump. Musk tweeted asking whether Apple hates free speech in America since they have mostly stopped advertising on Twitter.
He also posted a poll stating that Apple should make all of its censorship actions and how they affected its customers, public. The vote resulted in a massive 85% for the “yes” option. Looks like Musk has quite a few supporters on his side in the Musk vs. Apple war. He even stated that Apple had put a secret 30% ban on everything users purchase from the App Store. Musk isn’t leaving a stone unturned!
Why Would Apple Want to Remove Twitter
While Apple hasn’t made any comments regarding the removal of Twitter, the supposed threat shouldn’t be taken lightly as the company has previously shown no remorse in removing apps, including Parler. Parler was taken down by Apple in January 2021 as it had growing concerns about detecting and moderating hate speech. The app returned after three months but only after updating its content moderation practices.
So, why is Twitter at the end of the barrel of Apple’s shotgun? Well, Apple has a long list of safety parameters that applications must stick to if they want to maintain their spot on the App Store, including having objectionable content. The safety guidelines state that apps shouldn’t include content that is “offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy.” Many concerns have been raised about whether or not Twitter can moderate harmful content. These grounds just might be enough for Apple to give Twitter a boot from its App Store.
Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, stated in an interview with New York Times that Twitter had already started getting calls from App Store operators after Musk took over the company. Roth also gave his opinion that if Twitter fails to adhere to the guidelines, the result will be “catastrophic.” Putting icing on the cake, the head of the App Store, Phil Schiller, has already deleted his account on Twitter.
Yikes. It will be intriguing to see whether or not Musk bows down to Apple.
Source: Twitter
