On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined a growing chorus of Republicans who criticized Apple after Musk claimed that the tech giant threatened to remove him from its app store.
The Governor of Florida is Ron DeSantis.
It would be a huge mistake and a really raw exercise of monopolistic power to remove it from the App Store, according to the congressman.
Apple did not respond or confirm that it threatened to remove the app from the store.
Musk said it was unclear why Apple issued the warning, but he speculated that it was due to the fact that Musk had been suspended for putting out inaccurate information about Covid.
The Ohio Senator-elect said that the move would be the most raw exercise of monopoly power in a century.
Musk accused Apple of threatening to pull the social media company from the App Store and cut back on advertising on the site. If Apple continued its policy of charging companies that make over $1 million a 30% fee for in-app purchases, he would go to war. Since taking ownership of the company in October, Musk has loosened the company's content moderation policies and reinstated a number of accounts that were previously banned for violating the platform's policies against misinformation and hate speech. Lawmakers on the right blame tech companies for unfairly censoring information that appeals to their voter base. According to its guidelines, Apple doesn't allow companies that use its app platform to distribute content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, or just plain weird. In an op-ed for the New York Times, the former head of Trust and Safety warned that removing the app from the store would be catastrophic for the company.
Musk supports the Florida governor if he runs for president. Musk has donated to both parties in the past but recently made a shift to the right. Musk urged voters to cast their votes for GOP candidates on Election Day, and he has been critical of Democrat policies.
Apple's App Store policies have been accused of being anti-competitive. Apple is being sued by a gaming company for refusing to allow it to use third party payment processing systems. Apple did not agree with a court order that would have forced it to offer alternative payment methods. A potential antitrust lawsuit against Apple is being prepared by the US Department of Justice.
The Antitrust legislation aimed at reigning in tech companies that dominate the app store market faces long odds for passage before the end of the year. The Open App Markets Act has bipartisan support, but it hasn't made it out of the committee. The legislation would prevent tech companies that operate app stores from forcing developers to use their systems and punishing them who don't while also requiring fair prices for consumers.
There is a reason why Apple might have threatened to remove the account from the app store.
Here are the other companies that are rethinking their ties.
The billionaire moved from backing obama to opposing him.
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