In a New York Times article amid the #RIPTwitter trending on social media
Elon Musk (Photo: AFP)
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, claimed on Saturday that he will create “alternative” cellphones to compete with Apple and Android devices because he was alarmed by the Apple and Google app store teams assessing Twitter under him.
Musk is concerned that Twitter would be kicked out of the app stores because the micro-blogging site is currently under close inspection by both the Apple and Google app stores.
It all started when a user tweeted, “If Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”
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Musk replied: “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.”
On Musk’s post, a number of users commented.
I bet he’ll revolutionise smartphones, one person remarked, while another stated, “I feel like this concept is already in the works.”
Yoel Roth, who left his position as Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter last week, stated that Twitter is currently under close review by both the Apple and Google app stores as a result of Musk’s hasty modifications and tweet-length declarations concerning platform regulations.
In a New York Times article amid the #RIPTwitter trending on social media, Roth said that “Twitter will have to balance its new owner’s goals against the practical realities of life on Apple and Google’s internet, no easy task for the employees who have chosen to remain”.
“And as I departed the company, the calls from the app review teams had already begun,” Roth wrote.
The instances of racial slurs on Twitter have increased since Musk bought the influential platform, despite assurances from the platform that it has reduced hate activity.
Roth said that “the moderating influences of advertisers, regulators and — most critically of all — app stores may be welcome for those of us hoping to avoid an escalation in the volume of dangerous speech online”.
(inputs from IANS)
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