WTF?! Twitter goes by a turbulent time proper now, to say the least. But issues may at all times worsen. One nightmarish—if unlikely—state of affairs is Apple and Google banning the app from their respective shops in response to the platform’s diminished content material moderation. Should the worst occur, proprietor Elon Musk has an excessive answer: create a brand-new cellphone.
Between firing half the corporate’s workers and the verified account saga, Twitter boss Musk has been reinstating beforehand banned accounts, together with Donald Trump, Kanye West, and Jordan Peterson—extra are coming again this week. He’s additionally been dwelling as much as his promise of creating Twitter a bastion of free speech by taking a extra relaxed method to content material moderation. Moreover, Musk is reportedly trying to monetize grownup content material on Twitter, making it akin to OnlyFans.
But what one individual calls free speech, one other will name a poisonous cesspool. It’s the latter picture that has been scaring off advertisers, a number of of which have suspended adverts on the platform since Musk took over. There are additionally considerations that if the content material on Twitter turns into much more objectionable, the app could possibly be kicked from the Google Play and Apple App shops.
Conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler requested if Musk ought to get round this doubtlessly disastrous worst-case state of affairs by producing his personal smartphone. “The man builds rockets to Mars, a foolish little smartphone ought to be simple, proper?” she requested. Wheeler tweeted a ballot asking if individuals can be keen to purchase such a cellphone. Just over 51% of the 130,161 contributors voted sure; Wheeler had wrote that “Half the nation would fortunately ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android.”
Would you turn to a tELONphone? Vote sure or no along with your greatest pun for a reputation under.
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) November 25, 2022
Musk himself then joined the dialog. He wrote “I actually hope it doesn’t come to that, however, sure, if there isn’t a different selection, I’ll make an alternate cellphone.”
I actually hope it doesn’t come to that, however, sure, if there isn’t a different selection, I’ll make an alternate cellphone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
Could Twitter actually be banned from the app shops? It’s not past the realms of possibilty, particularly in the case of Apple, whose safety-first pointers prohibit apps containing “upsetting or offensive content material.”
In what could possibly be one other ominous signal for Twitter. Key Apple govt Phil Schiller just lately deleted his account on the platform after Musk complained about Cupertino’s charges, calling them a “hidden 30% tax on the web.”
The world’s richest individual actually is not missing the assets to construct his personal cellphone, however making a viable various to Android and Apple with mass attraction is not any simple feat, regardless of what number of Twitter-loving, snooping-hating cell customers are on the market.
