Elon Musk says Twitter feud with Apple has been resolved

The world's richest person said he had a 'good conversation' with Apple boss Tim Cook

Twitter won't be removed from Apple's App Store, Elon Musk says. Reuters

Elon Musk said his “misunderstanding” with Apple over the potential removal of Twitter from the App Store has been resolved.

Mr Musk, the new Twitter owner, unleashed a volley of tweets targeting Apple earlier this week, accusing it of threatening to deny free speech in America and stop advertising on Twitter. He said the situation had become “a battle for the future of civilisation”.

However, there has been a thawing after Mr Musk appeared to have visited Apple headquarters to speak with chief executive Tim Cook.

He tweeted: “Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

Twitter has lost at least half of its major advertisers in the weeks after Mr Musk became its chief executive amid concerns over content moderation. This represents a loss of nearly $750 million, a report by non-profit watchdog Media Matters found.

The exodus has included General Mills and Pfizer, and Mr Musk previously acknowledged that the defections led to a “massive drop” in revenue, and that the company was losing $4 million per day.

Apple was consistently one of the top advertisers on the social network, spending well over $100 million annually, Bloomberg reported.

Mr Musk had tweeted: “Did you know Apple puts a secret 30 per cent tax on everything you buy through their App Store?”

Apple has made no official comment on the apparent meeting between Mr Cook and Mr Musk.

Meanwhile, Mr Musk must do more to fight disinformation to comply with European Union law, said the bloc's top official for enforcing digital regulation.

Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner for the internal market, held a video call with Mr Musk and told him “there is still huge work ahead” to bring the platform in line with Brussels' rules.

Mr Breton posted a brief, silent video clip of his videoconference on Twitter, but followed it up with a link to a longer statement on the rival Mastodon network.

“Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve and limit targeted advertising,” he said.

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