Twitter chief Elon Musk on Saturday said that he would consider making an "alternative phone" if the microblogging platform gets removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Mr Musk made the comments in response to Twitter user Liz Wheeler, who tweeted, "If Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?"
Responding to this, the "Chief Twit" said that he "certainly" doesn't want Apple and Google to remove Twitter from their respected storefronts. However, Mr Musk also added that if it were to come to that, and if there is "no other choice," he will make an "alternative phone".
Mr Musk's tweet instantly garnered a lot of attention on the microblogging platform. While one user said, "I bet he will revolutionise the smartphones," another wrote, "I feel somehow like this plan is already in the works".
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Meanwhile, according to New York Post, Mr Musk's comments come after Phil Schiller, an Apple fellow who's responsible for leading the App Store, deleted his Twitter account. Separately, it also comes after the former Twitter head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, said that the social media giant risks being expelled from Apple and Google's app stores if they fail to adhere to guidelines.
Speaking to the New York Times, Mr Roth said, "Failure to adhere to Apple's and Google's guidelines would be catastrophic, risking Twitter's expulsion from their app stores and making it more difficult for billions of potential users to get Twitter's services. This gives Apple and Google enormous power to shape the decisions Twitter makes." He further also stated that as he left Twitter, the calls from the app review teams had already begun.
