Just two days after he claimed Apple had threatened to pull Twitter from its app store, Elon Musk on Wednesday met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, pointing out afterward that they’ve had a “good conversation” and resolved the misunderstanding, without explaining how the alleged misunderstanding had occurred.
Musk thanked Cook in a late afternoon tweet, setting a different tone from the one he used Monday when he accused Apple in a series of tweets of threatening to withhold Twitter from the App Store.
By making it impossible for iPhone and iPad users to load the social media app onto their devices, the alleged threat would’ve posed an almost existential threat to Twitter.
He also accused Apple of holding a monopoly over tech products and noted that the company had mostly stopped advertising on Twitter, asking if it hates free speech.
Though he later publicly retracted his accusations against the iPhone maker, Musk’s claims unleashed a tide of Republican attacks – including from lawmakers and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – and threats of reprisals against Apple.
Citing the alleged threat as evidence, GOP urged Congress to enact antitrust legislation that will lose Apple’s control over the App Store, a bulwark of Apple’s $2 trillion-plus fortune.
Cook is nevertheless expected in Washington on Thursday to meet with senators, among others.
A self-proclaimed defender of free speech, Musk recently purchased Twitter for $44 billion, claiming he was seeking to make Twitter more open for all. However, he has since made several controversial steps and changes at the social media company.
Musk fired much of Twitter’s staff and began reversing years-worth of its content decisions – he reinvited former President Trump and other right-wing figures back to the platform- and lifted suspensions on banned Twitter accounts that violated policies against hate speech, spreading misinformation and harassment.
According to a report from left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America, those changes have led about 50 of Twitter’s 100 largest advertisers to halt advertisements on the website.
Musk’s moves also enticed complaints from civil rights and anti-disinformation groups which claim that those changes are causing a resurgence of hate speech and harmful propaganda on Twitter – content that’s in violation of the rules governing Apple’s app marketplace.
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