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Musk Says Apple Has Mostly Stopped Advertising On Twitter

Photo of Martin Walsh Martin WalshNovember 28, 2022
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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

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Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced on Monday that Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter, which would make it one of the most high-profile companies to pull ads from the social media platform.

“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?,” Musk said in a tweet. He later tagged Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking “what’s going on here?”

“The move aligns the iPhone maker with a rising list of firms from General Mills Inc to luxury automaker Audi of America that have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter since the billionaire’s $44 billion buyout last month,” Reuters reported.

“Musk said ‘yes’ in response to a user question on whether Apple was threatening Twitter’s presence in the App Store or making moderation demands. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment,” the outlet added.

Musk continues to make changes to the platform, including unbanning previously suspended users and implementing free speech policies, he is also laying down the law, so to speak.

On Sunday, for instance, he warned a key figure in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment that he could be subject to enforcement action for violating the platform’s terms of service.

Musk responded to a post from former National Security Council figure and retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who posted: “Kinda weird that @elonmusk gets to decide how like a half-billion people communicate. Way too much power for one erratic individual to wield, don’t you think?”

Almost immediately, other users pointed out that Vindman tweeted the same message as many other accounts.

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That led Musk to respond: “They’re bots in human form,” while adding this warning: “Note, spamming, whether done by a set of humans or bots is against ToS.”

He then wrote: “Vindman is both puppet & puppeteer. Question is who pulls his strings … ?”

Another user noted, “And they’re all echoing Alexander Vindman.”

That led Musk to reply: “Like digital ventriloquist dolls.”

“Hating on elon musk full time seems like a really pathetic hobby,” added another user.

The Twitter boss replied: “They won’t give up controlling the narrative easily.”

Last week, Musk was attacked by left-wing actress and activist Alyssa Milano, who was herself mightily ratioed after posting her comment.

“I gave back my Tesla. I bought the VW ev. I love it,” she wrote, in reference to a Volkswagen model electric vehicle.

“I’m not sure how advertisers can buy space on Twitter. Publicly traded company’s products being pushed in alignment with hate and white supremacy doesn’t seem to be a winning business model,” she added.

The Hodge Twins quickly replied with a brutal fact check and a history lesson.

“Volkswagen was literally founded by the Nazi’s and Hitler,” they wrote, to which Musk responded with the 100 emoji and laughing emoji.

For its part, the automaker has acknowledged its Nazi-era founding on its website under “history,” noting that the car company’s origins were as a “Nazi prestige project”:

The history of the Volkswagen brand began with the “Käfer”; development work on this Nazi prestige project began in 1934. On May 28, 1937, the “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH“ (Company for the Preparation of the German Volkswagen Ltd.) was formally established. The name was changed to “Volkswagenwerk GmbH” in 1938, and the company built its main plant in what has become Wolfsburg. However, the outbreak of war and integration in the arms industry prevented mass production of the Volkswagen (“people’s car”) – instead, military vehicles and other armaments were produced using forced labor.

“Wait till you learn who founded Volkswagen!” political strategist Pete D’Abrosca tweeted as well.

Last week, Musk set liberals off again when he posted a video of a discovery he made in a ‘secret’ closet at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.

In a tweet, the Tesla CEO showed a closet stocked with shirts that read “stay woke” and shared the video with laughing emojis.

“Here we are at the [merchandise] thing and there’s an entire closet full of hashtag woke,” he said.

An unnamed person not seen on camera said, “A secret closet.”

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The video came as Musk has made several changes to the company while shredding some top Democratic politicians, such as New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Shout out to all the workers at Twitter. You all built a vital place for connection and deserved so much better. Millions of people appreciate the space you built and the hard work that went into it. Thank you,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said.

Musk responded with two simple words, “You’re welcome.”

He also took on The Associated Press last week after the newswire published a story about how “dangerous” it is for Musk to grant amnesty to a banned account before sharing the story to Twitter.

“New Twitter owner Elon Musk said he is granting ‘amnesty’ for suspended accounts, which online safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation,” it said on Twitter.

“AP is such an expert in misinformation. Twitter couldn’t hope to compete!” the CEO responded. “But you have piqued my curiosity … who are these ‘online experts’ you speak of?”

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Photo of Martin Walsh Martin WalshNovember 28, 2022