Due to worries about Mr. Musk’s content filtering intentions for the site, several businesses have stopped spending on Twitter around the time of the feud.
The BBC’s requests for comment from Apple have gone unanswered.
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According to Mr. Musk, Twitter has experienced a “huge” loss in revenue. He attributes this to activists’ pressure on advertisers.
He accused Apple of “censorship” and criticized its practices, notably the fee it charges for purchases made on its app store, in a series of Tweets on Monday.
“Apple has largely stopped running Twitter ads. Do they despise American freedom of speech? ” he added.
Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
He addressed the Apple CEO directly, enquiring, “What’s going on here, @tim cook?”
Additionally, the operator of the social media site claimed without providing evidence that Apple had threatened to ban Twitter from its app store.
Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Mr. Musk, who paid $44 billion for Twitter last month, is under pressure as some businesses cut back on spending.
Although he has stated that he wants to monetize Twitter verification by making it a paid subscription service, the vast majority of the site’s income now comes from advertising.
According to The Washington Post, Apple was the largest Twitter advertiser in the first quarter of 2022, spending $48 million on the social network.
Companies that have stopped spending in recent weeks include General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, and Volkswagen.
A watchdog website, Media Matters, stated last week that half of Twitter’s leading advertisers had stopped using the platform due to worries about Twitter’s future.
According to US tech website The Verge, Apple’s media agency Omnicom advised the Silicon Valley company to halt advertising on the app out of fear for Apple’s “brand safety”.
Elon Musk has figured out who controls social media businesses in reality.
The millionaire is renowned for disliking instructions. However, when it comes to Twitter, Apple is completely in control.
First off, as other users have discovered, Apple alone chooses who can access the App Store. If Apple chose to, it could block Twitter from being downloaded on iPhones around the world – which would be a devastating blow for Twitter.
Additionally, Apple is free to set its own prices for the right to publish apps on the App Store. It is possible for businesses like Twitter to charge between 15% and 30% for in-app purchases.
Producer of Fortnite, Epic Games, has contested that accusation in US courts. The App Store is referred to in the lawsuit as Apple’s “walled garden,” and the firm sued over the company’s commission in 2021.
Last but not least, Apple has the authority to stop running ads on Twitter, a significant source of income for the business.
Musk is hardly the first person to point out this power disparity. Meta has long been critical of Apple’s monopoly over the Instagram and Facebook apps.
But Apple now faces another formidable and wealthy foe in Mr. Musk.
When Mr. Musk picks a fight with Apple, he enters a larger discussion about the influence that Apple has over online activity through its app store, which is how iPhone owners download games and other programs.
Currently, Apple may retain up to 30% of the revenue from the monthly fee certain Twitter users will pay.
Mr. Musk shared a meme on Twitter that read: “pay 30%. Enter a war “with the latter being indicated by an arrow.
