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Twitter and Apple aren’t going to war after all.
Images by Raphael Silva | Pixabay
Elon Musk fired the first shots Monday, tweeting that Apple threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store and criticizing the Cupertino tech giant’s grip on the store. But Musk’s tone changed Wednesday. The Tesla billionaire tweeted that he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the company’s HQ and had a “good conversation.” Cook, according to Musk, “made it clear that Apple never considered” removing Twitter for iOS from its store.
Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
Musk went on to say the whole thing was a “misunderstanding.” However, the BBC noted that he made no mention of Apple’s advertising on Twitter — the subject of another aggrieved tweet in which Musk said, “Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?”
It’s possible Musk neglected to mention it, given he was also prepping for Neuralink-related news. That, or it could be that he learned of the Gizmodo report indicating Apple spent nearly $85,000 on ads the day he first complained about the company.
Then again, Musk previously hinted that Apple’s 30% take from in-app purchases was the thing that might prompt him to go to war. In that case, he would have some backing from no less than Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
If Elon Musk isn’t facing a conflict with one of the most powerful electronic companies in the world, he still faces a challenge from the European Union (EU).
EU commissioner Thierry Breton told Musk on Wednesday that Twitter will have to comply with EU statutes regarding disinformation and content moderation issues. Otherwise, European access to Twitter could be completely cut off.