Elon Musk attacks Apple over Twitter ads, store

Elon Musk has accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets that also say the iPhone maker has stopped advertising on the social media platform.

The billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said Apple was pressuring Twitter over content moderation demands.

The action, unconfirmed by Apple, would not be unusual as the company has routinely enforced its rules and previously removed apps such as Gab and Parler.

Parler, which is popular with US conservatives, was restored by Apple in 2021 after the app updated its content and moderation practices, the companies said at the time.

“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?,” Musk, who took Twitter private for $US44 billion ($66b) last month, said in a tweet on Monday.

He later tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking “what’s going on here?”

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The world’s most valuable company spent an estimated $US131,600 on Twitter ads between November 10 and November 16, down from $220,800 between October 16 and October 22, the week before Musk closed the Twitter deal, according to ad measurement firm Pathmatics.

Among the list of grievances tweeted by Musk was the up to 30 per cent fee Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, with Musk posting a meme suggesting he was willing to “go to war” with Apple rather than paying the commission.

The commission could weigh on Musk’s attempts to boost subscription revenue at Twitter, in part to make up for the exodus of advertisers over content moderation concerns.

Companies from General Mills to auto maker Audi of America have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter since the acquisition, and Musk said earlier this month that the company had seen a “massive” drop in revenue.

Ad sales account for about 90 per cent of Twitter’s revenue.

The self-described free speech absolutist, whose company has in the past few days reinstated several Twitter accounts including that of former US president Donald Trump, has blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.