Status: 01.12.2022 08:51 a.m
Elon Musk had sharply criticized the iPhone manufacturer for allegedly threatening removal from the App Store. After a conversation with the Apple boss, he rowed back. The “misunderstanding” had been cleared up.
The new Twitter boss Elon Musk spoke of a “good conversation” with CEO Tim Cook after the recent dispute with the US tech company Apple. The two have 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 never considered this.”
“What’s going on here?”
Musk had previously verbally attacked the iPhone manufacturer. In a series of tweets earlier this week, he questioned whether Apple hated free speech in America, since the company largely stopped advertising on Twitter after selling it to him. He then claimed that Apple threatened to kick Twitter out of the App Store without giving any reason.
The new Twitter owner had also previously complained about an allegedly “secret” fee of up to 30 percent Apple charges for in-app purchases – a well-known revenue share. Musk posted a meme on Twitter in connection with this, in which he implied 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. The EU Digital Commissioner, Thierry Breton, has called on new Twitter 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 violate the new EU law on digital services, Breton told the tech billionaire in a video conference yesterday. One of the topics of the conversation was how well Twitter is prepared for the new regulation. In the event of violations of the law, online platforms face 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” planned on Twitter
Musk had announced several times that he wanted to remove restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform that were too strong. It was only announced at the beginning of the week that Twitter was no longer taking action against the spread of false claims about the corona pandemic. As a result, some Twitter accounts tested how far they can now go. Since Musk bought Twitter, internet services have observed an increase in racist or anti-Semitic content on the online platform.
The EU law on digital services is intended, among other things, to ensure that platforms remove illegal content on their sites more quickly. The requirements will apply throughout the EU from mid-February 2024 – earlier for particularly large platforms. In early 2023, the commission plans to carry out a “stress test” at Twitter headquarters.