If Apple and Google decide to remove Twitter from their app stores, Elon Musk will produce an alternative smartphone, he said on Twitter. Musk is ready to go to war against Google and Apple, saying their app store terms and conditions give them the ability to remove any app even if only their politics aren’t aligned.
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The idea was first floated by Liz Wheeler, a podcast host, when speaking about the potential issues Twitter may be facing in the future. “If Apple and Google boot Twitter from their app stores, Elon Musk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone and Android,” she said.
Several hours later, Musk replied and said “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.” The tension comes after concerns about how Apple and Google is dealing with Musk’s stance on free speech, and how that could break some of the app store rules. Namely, both companies have policies in place that ban apps containing hate or discriminatory speech, bullying, harassment, and sexually explicit content. Musk’s proposed reduction of censorship in the name of free speech could lead to a breach of said policies.
Musk is behind influential companies such as PayPal, SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and, now, Twitter, so the prospect of him initiating a project to offer a new consumer smartphone to rival the iPhone seems plausible, especially if his companies’ relationships with Apple worsen in the future. Tesla making a phone has long been an unsubstantiated rumour on account of its experience with hardware and software, but it may now be more likely given Musk’s growing tendencies to publicly disagree with other tech giants.
