Elon Musk said that Apple has backed out of most of its advertising on Twitter and that the company has threatened to remove Twitter from its app store.
Many companies have stopped spending money on Twitter because Mr. Musk’s plans to control the content on the site.
Mr. Musk has said that Twitter’s income has dropped “massively,” and he blames activists for putting pressure on advertisers.
In a series of Tweets on Monday, he accused Apple of “censorship” and criticized its policies, including the fee it charges for purchases made on its app store.
The social media site owner also said that Apple had threatened to remove Twitter from its app store without giving a reason.
Last month, Mr. Musk paid $44 billion to Twitter. Since then, some companies have stopped spending, which puts pressure on Mr. Musk.
He has said that he wants to make money by making Twitter verification a paid subscription service, but the site makes most of its money from ads.
The Washington Post said that Apple was the biggest advertiser on Twitter. In the first three months of 2022, it spent $48 million on ads on Twitter.
General Mills, which makes Cheerios, and Volkswagen are among the companies that have stopped spending in the past few weeks.
A watchdog site called Media Matters said last week that half of Twitter’s top advertisers had pulled their ads because they didn’t like where Twitter was going.
The US tech site The Verge says that Apple’s advertising agency, Omnicom, told the Silicon Valley giant to stop advertising on the platform because they were worried about the safety of Apple’s brand.
Elon Musk understands the social media business
It is an open secret that Elon Musk hates being told what to do. Still, Apple has every advantage when it comes to Twitter.
First, as other people have found out, Apple is the only one who decides who can be on the App Store. So if it wanted to, it could stop people worldwide from downloading Twitter to their iPhones. This would be a very bad thing for Twitter.
Also, Apple can charge whatever it wants for apps to be on the App Store. So in-app purchases can cost a company like Twitter anywhere from 15% to 30%.
Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite challenged these charges in US courts. In 2021, the company sued Apple because of the fee they charged to get into their “walled garden,” which is what the App Store is called in the case.
Lastly, Apple can stop advertising on Twitter, which is a crucial way for the company to make money.
Mr. Musk is one of many people who notice this difference in power. Meta has been upset about how Apple controls to a large extent its Instagram and Facebook apps.
But Mr. Musk gives Apple another powerful and very wealthy rival.
A larger debate with Apple
By getting into a fight with Apple, Mr. Musk is joining a larger debate about how much control Apple has over online activity through its app store, which is how iPhone owners get games and other apps.
Read Also: Twitter: How has Musk fared after 10 days in?
As things stand, Apple could take up to 30% of the money some Twitter users will pay each month.
Mr. Musk posted a meme on Twitter that said, “pay 30%. Go To War, “with a pointing arrow to the second one.
All companies in the app store must follow Apple’s rules and pay its fees, or Apple would suspend their accounts.
Last year, Apple removed Parler from the App Store because it didn’t do enough to eliminate hate speech.
It later brought back Parler after changing its rules.
