Twitter CEO Elon Musk just got schooled on how ‘free speech’ actually works by MCU actor, Mark Ruffalo. This comes when Musk tweeted that Apple stopped advertising on the platform and threatened to withhold Twitter from the App Store.
Ruffalo replied to one of Musk’s tweets by stating that the reason why Apple is slowly moving away from Twitter is due to disinformation and fake accounts. He also pointed out how China making use of this new system by suppressing free speech with disinformation. He linked an article from the Washington Free Beacon, where Chinese users were flooded with porn and gambling search results due to the ongoing protest.
People commented on Ruffalo’s tweet, stating that Apple is no better than Twitter due to its overseas factories in China. At the same time, they said they can’t find any of the mentioned “porn tweets” from the “fake Chinese Government bot accounts” and reminded the actor China has zero access to Twitter unless they use a VPN.
What’s interesting is that what Apple is doing with Twitter is similar to what it did to Tumblr. Back in 2018, Tumblr had to change its NSFW content guidelines due to the app being removed from the Apple App Store. Apple claimed it was due to child pornography and how Tumblr isn’t moderating the site well enough to fit its safety standards. This statement was backed up by Tumblr and Automatic CEO, Matt Mullenweg in Sept. 2022.
Ever since Musk took over the company, the use of racist slurs and the N-word skyrocketed. Not to mention the multiple fake verified accounts that appeared on the platform. It was also reported by USA Today that content moderation dropped due to the recent layoffs. Fans suggested that Musk should release his own phone if he wants to go to war with the “Apple monopoly.” But that seems unlikely to happen at the moment.