Musk feuds with Apple over Twitter advertising

• Posted on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Elon Musk has said Apple has halted most of its advertising on Twitter and accused the company of threatening to remove the platform from its app store.

The feud comes as many companies have halted spending on Twitter amid concerns about Mr Musk’s content moderation plans for the site.

Apple has not responded to requests for comment from the BBC.

Mr Musk has said Twitter has seen a “massive” drop in revenue, blaming activists for pressuring advertisers.

In a series of Tweets on Monday, he accused Apple of “censorship” and criticised its policies, including the charge it levies on purchases made on its app store.

“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he said.

He appealed directly to Apple’s CEO – asking: “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”

The owner of the social media platform also claimed Apple had threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, but did not say why.

Mr Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44bn last month, is under pressure as some companies halt spending.

He has said he hopes to make money by turning Twitter verification into a paid subscription service, but currently the vast majority of the site’s revenue comes from advertising. 

The Washington Post reported Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48m on ads on the social network in the first quarter of 2022.

Companies including Cheerios maker General Mills and Volkswagen are among the firms that have halted their spending in recent weeks. 

Media Matters, a watchdog site, reported last week that half of Twitter’s top advertisers had pulled their advertising on Twitter after concerns about the direction of Twitter.

Apple’s media agency Omnicom recommended the Silicon Valley giant pause advertising on the platform out of concern for Apple’s “brand safety”, according to the US tech site The Verge.

-BBC