Musk says Twitter clash with Apple was a 'misunderstanding'

On Wednesday, Twitter owner Elon Musk said he met with Apple chief Tim Cook and "resolved the misunderstanding" that had prompted him to declare war on the iPhone maker's App Store.

"Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store," Musk tweeted.

"Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so."

Musk also tweeted a video clip of "Apple's beautiful HQ" in Cupertino, California, noting that he had had a "good conversation" with Cook.

Apple did not reply to AFP requests for comment.

Earlier this week, the world's richest person opened fire on the planet's most valuable company over fees and rules at the App Store, saying Apple had threatened to oust his recently-acquired social media platform.

The billionaire CEO had tweeted that Apple had "threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why".

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Apple — which has not issued a public statement on the matter — typically tells developers if fixes need to be implemented in apps, so as to conform to App Store policies.

Analysts told AFP that the clash may have come down to money, with Musk irked that the App Store takes a commission on transactions such as subscriptions.

Musk has delayed the relaunch of the Twitter Blue subscription tier intended to have users pay for perks such as account verification check marks.

Twitter rolled out Blue early in November, but pulled the plug after impersonators paid for check marks to appear legitimate, in what former head of safety and security Yoel Roth referred to as "a disaster".

Both Apple and Google also require social networking services on their app stores to have effective systems for moderating harmful or abusive content.

However, since taking over Twitter last month, Musk has cut around half of Twitter's workforce — including many employees tasked with fighting disinformation — while an unknown number of others have quit.

He has also reinstated previously-banned accounts, including that of former president Donald Trump.

Describing himself as a "free speech absolutist", Musk believes that all content permitted by law should be allowed on Twitter, and has described his actions as a "revolution against online censorship in America".

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