Elon Musk said he would consider launching an alternative smartphone platform to rival iPhone and Android if Apple and Google boot Twitter off their respective app stores. Weeks after Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition, Twitter reinstated the accounts of a myriad of shady characters previously banned from the platform for hate speech and misinformation. Since then, many observers have expressed concerns that it could lead to Twitter devolving into even more of a toxic hellscape than it already is.
Wary about the prospect of increasing vitriol and misinformation on Twitter, many major advertisers have already distanced themselves from the platform in recent weeks. According to reports, most of them are waiting for a concrete policy on content moderation and management issues to be sorted out before deciding on a future course of action. Musk, however, is continuing as usual, making ad-hoc decisions that are confusing everyone even further. As if that's not enough, he is reportedly firing Twitter employees who are contradicting or speaking out against him, in direct contrast to his claims of being a "free speech absolutist."
Elon Musk recently said that he would consider launching his own smartphone platform. Musk made the comment in response to Twitter user and right-wing commentator Liz Wheeler, who asked him whether he'd want to produce his own smartphone if Apple and Google remove Twitter from their app stores. Responding to the query, Musk said that he hoped neither company would remove Twitter from their respective storefronts. However, if things were to come to that, he'd be left with "no other choice" than to launch an "alternative phone." Musk has since posted multiple tweets against Apple and claimed that the iPhone-maker has threatened to expel Twitter from the App Store without providing any reason or proof. Musk even tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook in a tweet, asking him why Apple has pulled back advertising on the platform.
Twitter Could Be Suspended For Content Violations
The development comes a few days after Twitter's former Head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, wrote a New York Times op-ed claiming that the Twitter risked being expelled from Apple and Google's app stores if it became a free-for-all with no reasonable content moderation. According to Roth, "Failure to adhere to Apple's and Google's guidelines would be catastrophic, risking Twitter's expulsion from their app stores and making it more difficult for billions of potential users to get Twitter's services."
Meanwhile, Musk's tweets invited applause and mockery in equal measure, with Twitter users seemingly split on whether an entirely new smartphone platform is a good idea. While some, like smartone2000 mocked the idea, saying that it would help Musk quickly lose more money, others, like JustMyDrewCents claimed that Google and Apple are already afraid of Elon Musk's imaginary new smartphone platform stopping their duopoly.
Source: Elon Musk/Twitter 1, 2, smartone2000/Twitter, JustMyDrewCents/Twitter, NYT