Elon Musk has accused Apple of stopping advertisements on Twitter. (AFP Photo)
Elon Musk is not happy with Apple, accusing the tech giant of stopping ads on Twitter, the social media platform he recently acquired. The billionaire shared a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" with Apple over its app store fee.
Here are five points on the controversy:
- Tensions began after Mr Musk acquired Twitter and promised to allow "free speech" on the platform. With the tweets targeting Apple, he appears to confirm that content moderation was an issue for the iPhone maker. Lack of moderation could give Apple a ground to remove Twitter from its app store - something the company did with Parler last year.
- Another issue is Apple's 30 per cent fee, which the company takes from all digital content purchased on its app store. Mr Musk has openly criticised his "secret tax" multiple times in the past. Apple's store fee has also been criticised by Spotify and Meta.
- Mr Musk has also claimed that Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. He tweeted: "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?" The billionaire then tagged Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, asking "what's going on here". Ad sales account for about 90% of Twitter's revenue. A Washington Post report said that Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48 million on ads on the social network in the first quarter of 2022.
- Mr Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist", has alarmed advertisers who are concerned that his acquisition of Twitter will lead to proliferation of hate speech on the platform. Many big companies, including General Motors and Chipotle, have paused spending on Twitter, according to The Guardian.
- After becoming the "Chief Twit" of the platform, Mr Musk announced general amnesty for permanently suspended accounts, which could see the return of Steve Bannon, the former Donald Trump adviser, and Katie Hopkins.
