Twitter CEO Elon Musk wrote in a tweet that he would "make an alternative phone" to compete with Apple's iPhone if the tech giant ended up banning Twitter from its App Store.
Since assuming the presidency of Twitter at the end of last October, Musk has made several changes to the platform's platform, including massive layoffs and dismissals, which has led to the resignations of executives responsible for data privacy and content oversight.
Before offering to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk criticized the site for undermining democracy by not adhering to the "principles of freedom of expression" before calling himself the "absolute freedom of expression."
Musk's position on content moderation is to allow speech that does not violate the law.
In addition, it is widely believed that Musk plans to try to make money from private adult content, similar to the site Only Fans.
I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
Under previous leadership such as Jack Dorsey, content moderation was more focused on "safety" for users, banning hate speech and violence.
Musk quickly moved to reinstate a number of banned users who mirror this content, such as former President Donald Trump.
Apple has lengthy guidelines for apps that users must follow in order for them to remain available on iPhones and other Apple devices.
The main principle of the Guidelines is "Safety".
"When people install an app from the App Store, they want to feel confident that it is safe to do so, and that the app does not contain disturbing or offensive content," says the first rule of the guidelines.
In a potentially bad sign for Twitter, an Apple marketing executive who has been running a store for the company for a long time deleted his Twitter account last week after Musk complained on Twitter about Apple's fee, saying it was a "30% hidden tax on the internet." ".
Last Friday, Musk did not deny the possibility that his changes to Twitter would lead to his expulsion from the App Store, but he said, "I certainly hope that does not happen."