Elon Musk picks public fight with Apple

STORY: Twitter owner Elon Musk accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets on Monday.

The world’s richest person also tweeted (quote) "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?”

Musk tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook in another tweet, asking “What’s going on here?”

Musk said the iPhone maker was pressuring Twitter - which has reinstated previously banned accounts - over content moderation demands.

Such an action would not be unusual… as Apple has routinely enforced its rules that led to the removal of conservative-leaning apps such as Gab and Parler from its app store.

Apple, however, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to ad measurement firm Pathmatics – Apple has significantly decreased its weekly advertising on Twitter since Musk inked the deal for the social media platform.

There’s been a pattern since the acquisition. A growing list of companies have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter, which relies on ad sales for about 90 percent of its revenue.

Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, said earlier this month that Twitter had seen a "massive" drop in revenue and blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.