- Ben Derico
- By BBC reporter from San Francisco
image source,Reuters
Elon Musk said Apple has stopped most advertising on Twitter, blaming Apple for threatening to remove Twitter from the app store.
The spat between Musk and Apple stems from the content moderation plan he instituted after he bought Twitter, and many companies, including Apple, stopped advertising on Twitter because of concerns about such a plan.
The British broadcaster BBC asked Apple for comment on Musk’s remarks, but the company did not respond.
What did Musk say?
Musk said there had been a “massive” decline in Twitter’s revenue and accused activists of putting pressure on advertisers.
In a series of tweets on Monday (November 28), Musk accused Apple of “censorship” and criticized Apple’s policies, including charging for purchases in the App Store.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,” Musk said. “Do they hate free speech in America?” he said.
Musk also claimed that Apple threatened to remove Twitter from the app store, without explaining why. Musk tweeted directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking: “What the hell is going on @tim_cook?”
What happened to Twitter ad revenue?
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, has come under pressure after some companies stopped advertising on the site.
Musk has said that he hopes to make money by turning Twitter verification into a paid subscription service, but currently the vast majority of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising.
According to the Washington Post, Apple is the largest advertiser on Twitter, spending $48 million on Twitter in the first quarter of 2022.
Global companies including General Mills, maker of the breakfast cereal brand Cheerios, and Volkswagen have halted their Twitter ad spending in recent weeks.
Watchdog site Media Matters reported last week that half of Twitter’s top advertisers had pulled their ads on the platform amid concerns about the company’s direction.
Apple’s media arm, Omnicom, has advised the Silicon Valley giant to suspend advertising on Twitter due to concerns about Apple’s “brand safety,” The Verge reported.
How does Apple sway Twitter?
Analysis by James Clayton, BBC North America technology correspondent:
Musk has figured out who really wields the power over social media companies.
The billionaire notoriously dislikes being told what to do. When it comes to Twitter, however, Apple holds all of its cards.
First, as others have discovered, who gets access to Apple’s app store is a matter for Apple alone. If Apple wanted to, it could prevent Twitter from being downloaded to iPhones around the world. This would be a devastating blow to Twitter.
Not only that, but Apple can charge whatever it wants for the privilege of accessing the App Store. For a company like Twitter, it can charge 15-30% for in-app store purchases.
Epic Games, maker of the game Fortnite, has challenged the fee in a U.S. court. In 2021, the company filed a lawsuit against Apple over the so-called “walled garden” — the app store commission.
Finally, Apple has the right to stop advertising on Twitter, which is an important source of income for Twitter.
Musk is not the first to point out this power asymmetry. (Zuckerberg’s) Meta has complained for years about Apple’s dominance over its Instagram and Facebook apps.
Now that Musk has appeared, Apple has another rich and powerful opponent.
How influential is the Apple App Store?
By choosing to take on Apple, Musk is actually taking part in a broader debate about the power Apple has over online activity through its App Store, the place iPhone users download games and other apps. place.
At present, Apple can take up to 30% of the monthly fees that Twitter plans to charge users.
In this regard, Musk tweeted an emoticon package: At the fork in the road, a road sign reads “Pay 30%”, another road sign reads “Resist”, and in the direction of the arrow pointing to “Resist”, there is a car. and go.
All companies listed on the app store must abide by Apple’s rules and pay fees, or face delisting or suspension of purchases.
Last year, Apple suspended social media platform Parler from the App Store, saying the platform did not do a good enough job of eliminating hate speech.
Later, after Parler updated its policy, Apple re-listed the platform in the App Store.