The acquisition of social media platform Twitter by Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has seen several people speak out saying they are leaving the platform. Could one of the biggest companies be going silent on the platform?
What Happened: Users are speaking out after it was announced that Musk would reinstate former President Donald Trump on Twitter, a ban that was previously in place for over two years.
News circulated this week that an executive at Apple Inc AAPL deleted his verified Twitter account.
Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller deleted his Twitter account, according to 9to5Mac. The move by Schiller was not announced by the Apple executive and it is unclear if it is done in protest of the decision to unban Trump but aligns with the timing.
Schiller was on Twitter for 14 years according to the report and could return within 30 days and not lose the tweets and followers.
“The head of Apple’s App Store, Phil Schiller, deleted his Twitter account over the weekend. Not a good sign for Musk’s business relationship with his most critical source of distribution,” The Verge editor Alex Heath tweeted.
An article on The Verge went on to say that if Schiller soured on Musk’s handling of Twitter, it could be “potentially very bad news for Musk.”
The article also cites Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, who previously said that Apple and Google had power over decisions Twitter makes due to their app stores being a major source of Twitter downloads and mobile use.
Related Link: Twitter Death Watch Commences As Elon Musk Posts Burial Meme: How Do We Say Goodbye?
Why It’s Important: News that Schiller may have deleted his Twitter account led to some speculating that Apple had also deleted tweets and was not using its official Twitter account, which has 8.7 million followers.
Some might be surprised to learn that the Apple Twitter account has 0 tweets and has for some time according to a Medium post from 2020.
Instead, Apple uses different target-specific Twitter accounts like iTunes, AppleTV and the iOS App Store. Apple also uses the accounts of executives like CEO Tim Cook to make product announcements and messages about the technology giant. Cook has 13.7 million followers on Twitter, more than the official Apple account.
While some may remember seeing tweets from Apple on Twitter, they were likely advertisements and promoted posts that look like traditional tweets, the article reads. Apple often does large promotional campaigns around product launches.
Apple created its official Twitter account in 2016, which could have been done as a requirement to run promoted posts on the platform.
A decision to continue running advertisements on Twitter after Musk’s acquisition and the Trump reinstatement by Apple could go against its own advertising agency. Omnicom Group OMC recommended that its clients, which includes Apple, halt advertising on Twitter until clarifications are made about trust and safety on the social media platform.
Benzinga reached out to Apple about social media policies and did not receive comments back.
AAPL Price Action: Apple shares were up 1% to $150.18 on Tuesday.
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