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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Merrifield

Elon Musk claims Apple threatened to delete Twitter from App Store in series of tweets

Elon Musk claimed Apple threatened to remove Twitter from the App Store "but won’t tell us why".

The billionaire entrepreneur, who took over the social media platform last month for a staggering $44 billion (£37 billion), has attacked the global tech firm in a string of tweets today.

It is the latest in long line of controversies since his buyout.

Musk has most recently announced former US President Donald Trump can return to the platform after being banned, as he was deemed to have helped incite the Capitol Hill siege.

Twitter is reported to have laid off half of its worldwide staff of an estimated 7,500 as it looks to save money - with richest man in the world Musk claiming it is losing $4million (£3.3 million) a day.

He also announced plans to start charging blue tick users $7.99 (£7) a month.

Employees have been tweeting using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked and a saluting emoji to show they were leaving the firm.

In a series of tweets today, Musk has been calling out Apple - though didn't provide any proof to back up his claims - including direct tweeting CEO Tim Cook.

Musk bought out Twitter for $44 billion last month (Noah Berger/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

He said: "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?"

He also retweeted LBRY's claims that Apple "demanded our apps filter some search terms from being returned".

"If we did not filter the terms, our apps would not be allowed in the store," they added.

"Apple may make good products, but they have been opposed to free speech for some time."

Musk direct tweeted Apple CEO Tim Cook (Apple, Inc./AFP via Getty Images)

Musk added above his retweet: "Who else has Apple censored?"

In another tweet he asked Cook: "What’s going on here?"

He even shared a tweet showing a Fortnite parody of Apple as the totalitarian superstate in George Orwell dystopian novel 1984.

Musk described the clip as "accurate".

On Monday evening, he created a poll asking if: "Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers."

Then tweeted: "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why."

It comes after Twitter temporarily closed its offices at short notice earlier this month after giving staff an ultimatum.

Employees were told in an email on November 18 that their passes had been suspended until the building re-opened the following week.

Musk had told his workers to show loyalty to the platform by agreeing to undertake "long hours at high intensity" or find another job.

This reportedly led to mass resignations.

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