Elon Musk ignites public spat with Apple – which spent $48M in advertising on Twitter in the first quarter – accusing it of abusing power by ‘threatening to pull platform from App Store’

• The brazen declaration was delivered by the new Twitter chief Monday, in a slew of tweets that called out the company for pulling back partnered posts on its site
• The tirade also saw Musk also air long-running concerns regarding the company’s outsized market power
• Apple, previously Twitter’s top advertiser, seemingly joined a host of other companies to cease advertising on the site without issuing a formal statement
• The mass exodus primarily stems from ethical concerns regarding the company’s new direction under new 51-year-old Musk
• In his 15-minute spiel Monday, the Twitter CEO called out Apple for its actions, while also accusing it of threatening to withhold the site’s app from its App Store 

Elon Musk announced that he intends to ‘go to war’ with Apple over its decision to desert Twitter as an advertiser – a move Musk said suppresses free speech and serves as a blatant exploitation of the tech giant’s power.

The brazen declaration was delivered by the new Twitter chief Monday, in a slew of tweets that called out the iPhone maker for pulling back partnered posts on its site.

The tirade also saw Musk – who has seen 50 of the platform’s top 100 advertisers pull ads since taking the reigns last month – also air long-running concerns regarding the company’s outsized market power.

Apple, previously Twitter’s top advertiser, ruffled feathers yesterday when it seemingly joined a host of other companies to cease advertising on the site without issuing a formal statement, according to Musk.

The mass exodus primarily stems from ethical concerns regarding the company’s new direction under its new boss, who has sought to increase revenue through subscriptions and offer users increased leniency with their posts since buying it up last month.

In his 15-minute spiel Monday, Musk called out Apple for what he said amounted censorship by privately threatening to withhold Twitter from its App Store. 

Musk further accused the world’s wealthiest company of halting nearly all of its advertising spending on Twitter – a move that would surely jeopardize his $44billion investment.

His spat with the company, Musk said, could soon set the stage for a dispute that could draw newfound attention to how speech is monitored on the internet – and could burgeon into a full-blown ‘revolution against online censorship in America’ in coming months.

Elon Musk announced that he intends to ‘go to war’ with Apple over its decision to desert Twitter as an advertiser – a move Musk said suppresses free speech and serves as a blatant exploitation of the tech giant’s power

Per a flippant tweet from Musk, it now appears that Apple has joined that list, with the mogul writing Monday that Apple has ‘mostly stopped’ advertising on the platform

Musk has called the dynamic exhibited by both Apple and its primary competitor in the App sphere, Google, demonstrative of a ‘duopoly’ – and has said the fees charged by the tech giants ‘are obviously too high.’

‘It is a hidden 30% tax on the Internet,’ Musk wrote in a tweet last week, tagging the Department of Justice’s antitrust division in a follow-up post. The agency is reportedly currently investigating rules surrounding companies’ app store practices.

Recent posts show that of those companies to pause their advertising over the past few weeks, none had returned to the social media service as of Monday.

Shortly after his announcement regarding Apple’s quiet pullout, Musk, in a reply to a user asking if Apple is ‘threatening Twitter’s presence in the app store’ through its actions, the famously outspoken CEO provided an uncharacteristically curt response.

‘Yes,’ he wrote in response. 

Shortly after his announcement regarding Apple’s quiet pullout Monday, Musk, in a reply to a user asking if Apple is ‘threatening Twitter’s presence in the app store’ through its actions, the famously outspoken CEO provided an uncharacteristically curt response

Over the weekend, industry insiders told the Financial Times that Twitter’s current ad situation – which has seen it lose over $750 million in advertising in 2022 alone, according to Media Matters’ report – has worsened in recent weeks, as agencies have seen decreased communication with Twitter’s ads business team due to so few staff being left following mass layoffs.  

Musk fired roughly 50 percent of the original 7,500-strong workforce after taking control of the company in October – and has since received resignations from more than 1,200 others. 

The mass walkouts came after Musk told staffers earlier this month that they must commit to working ‘long hours at high intensity’ or else leave the company.

Musk recently shared slides from talks with Twitter workers citing a drastic reduction in hate speech since his $44billion takeover

The slides posted to Musk’s twitter page show that between October 17 and November 13 hate speech impressions are lower

Musk also reported that new user signups were at an all-time high averaging over 2 million per day in the past 7 days

Twitter 2.0 ‘The Everything App’ was teased in the post, boasting advertising as entertainment, encrypted messaging, video, the relaunch of Blue verified and new payment options

These new figures, counter reports early last month which claimed an uptick in the amount of hateful language being tweeted in the wake of Musk taking the helm

It comes as several high-profile companies to issue statements to announced halted advertising on the site include Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ford, and Jeep.

Other noticeable names to apparently nix their relationship with the company are cheese giant Kraft, Coca Cola, Nestle, Chanel, AT&T, CNN, Heineken, and Kellogg’s.

These firms are among those dubbed ‘quiet quitters’ by the watchdog after they stopped advertisements without issuing a formal statement.

A flippant tweet from Musk suggests Apple has also joined that list – with the mogul writing Monday that the firm had ‘mostly stopped’ advertising on the platform. 

The mass exodus largely stems over ethical concerns regarding the company’s new direction under Musk, 51, who has aired plans to increase revenue through subscriptions and offer users increased ‘free speech.’ 

Musk’s plans – which has already seen previously banned accounts, like the one owned by former president Donald Trump, restored – have proved polarizing not only in terms of morals, but have put it at odds with companies like Apple, whose terms and services allows them a cut from purchases made from these ads.

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