Status: 01.12.2022 08:51
Elon Musk had slammed the iPhone maker for allegedly threatening to be removed from the App Store. After a conversation with the head of Apple, he went back. The “misunderstanding” had been cleared up.
New Twitter boss Elon Musk has spoken of a “good conversation” with CEO Tim Cook following his recent dispute with US tech company Apple. The two cleared up the “misunderstanding” about a possible removal of the social media platform from Apple’s App Store, Musk tweeted yesterday: “Tim made it very clear that Apple has never considered this.”
“What’s going on here?”
Musk had previously verbally attacked the iPhone maker. In a series of tweets earlier this week, he asked if Apple hated free speech in America, since the company largely discontinued Twitter advertising after selling it to them. He then claimed that Apple threatened to kick Twitter out of the App Store without giving any reasons.
Twitter’s new owner had also previously complained about an alleged “secret” fee of up to 30% of Apple charges for in-app purchases, a well-known revenue share. Musk posted a meme on Twitter in connection with this, in which he hinted that he would rather “go to war” with Apple than pay the commission. Musk tagged Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking, “What’s going on here?”
Complaint from Brussels
Meanwhile, Musk has been warned by the EU Commission. EU Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton has called on Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk to step up efforts to protect against hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content on the platform. Otherwise, the short message service could breach the EU’s new law on digital services, Breton told the tech billionaire in a video conference yesterday. One of the topics of conversation was how well Twitter is prepared for the new regulation. If the law is violated, online platforms are subject to high fines or even a ban in the European Union.
After speaking with Twitter boss Elon Musk, Breton said he was pleased to hear that Musk had read the so-called “Digital Services Act”. But Twitter still has a lot of work to do. The short message service must introduce transparent user guidelines, moderate content significantly more, protect freedom of expression and take decisive action against disinformation, said the commissioner.
“Stress test” scheduled on Twitter
Musk had announced several times that he wanted to remove restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform that were too strong. Only at the beginning of the week was it announced that Twitter would no longer take action against the spread of false claims about the corona pandemic. As a result, some Twitter accounts have tested how far they can go now. Since Musk bought Twitter, Internet services have observed an increase in racist or anti-Semitic content on the online platform.
EU law on digital services aims, among other things, to ensure that platforms remove illegal content from their sites faster. The requirements will apply across the EU from mid-February 2024, first for particularly large platforms. In early 2023, the commission plans to conduct a “stress test” at Twitter headquarters.
