Elon Musk has been trolled after he slammed Apple for removing some of its ads on Twitter in an apparent attempt to get the tech giant to return to advertising.
The Tesla CEO bought the social media platform earlier this year for $44bn.
The billionaire was mocked by Twitter users for his perception of free speech and persuasion tactics.
Apple and other large corporations have been advertising less and less on the platform since Mr Musk took the helm.
As many as 50 of the top 100 advertisers have either publically said that they have stopped advertising on the platform, or simply done so without making a statement, the watchdog Media Matters reported.
“These advertisers have accounted for nearly $2 billion in spending on the platform since 2020, and over $750 million in advertising in 2022 alone,” the watchdog wrote earlier this month.
The use of racial slurs has increased on Twitter since Mr Musk’s takeover, something which could have motivated advertisers to leave. This comes despite Twitter arguing that they have taken measures to reduce hate speech, the Associated Press reported.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” Mr Musk tweeted on Monday, asking the Apple CEO, “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
Many Twitter users mocked Mr Musk for his tweet.
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson wrote, “it’s almost like they’re exercising their free-speech rights”.
“Ok, clearly this is a ‘thing’ with you. Let’s try this: #FirstAmendment applies to actions by federal, state, local governments not privately owned entities like Twitter. Apple may not like the tenor of the speech on this platform since you bought it and is free to go elsewhere,” former RNC chair Michael Steele said.
“If @apple were forced to advertise on Twitter would that make America look more or less like a country of free markets?” California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell asked.
“Yeah one way to do business is to harass and defame your potential clients in public. Elon Musk - looking more desperate by the day and driving out his revenue base. Enjoying watching him drive Twitter into the ground,” NextGen America President Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez wrote.
“I realize this is a difficult concept, but there’s literally *nothing* about ‘free speech’ that *requires* a private corporation to advertise on platforms amplifying messages with which they disagree. If free speech is anything, it’s the right of that corporation to *not* do so,” legal scholar Steve Valdeck said.
“This makes no sense. Not buying clothes from @Gap doesn’t mean you’re a nudist. Not buying groceries at @WholeFoods doesn’t mean you’re on a food strike. Twitter is one of many media platforms advertisers can choose to do business with,” Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC said.
“Not subsidizing speech you find offensive and valueless does not mean you hate free speech,” author James Surowiecki added.
“New definition of ‘free speech’: paying to advertise on Elon Musk’s personal platform!” Washington Post columnist Max Boot said. “I continue to be amazed at Musk’s strategy of insulting and demeaning Twitter employees, users, and advertisers. This will make for quite the HBS Case Study in years to come.”
“Apple: *trying to sell as many iPhones as humanly possible* Elon: why do you not want to be associated with my nazi frog meme friends? Does this frighten you?” Oliver Willis of the American Independent wrote. “This isn’t even a moral question from Apple and co. They just want to sell a ton of products and having your ads show up next to Nazis and other bigots is bad for sales. That’s it.”
“The universe of companies who want to run their ads next to caricatures of Jewish people being put in ovens - the chosen method of self-expression for Elon’s base - is pretty small,” he added.
Actor Josh Gad wrote that “as the owner of this site, you are tweeting like a drunk 15-year-old who just discovered Adderall. It’s not exactly a great business model for attracting corporate partners”.
“This is a preemptive shot by #Musk, because he knows #Twitter is violating the #App Store TOS and will likely be yanked by #Apple from the store in the coming days. This comment is to ‘get ahead’ of it, so that Apple pulling Twitter will seem like a retaliation. How very sad,” Dennis Detwiller added.
Less than an hour later, Mr Musk wrote: “Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”
