Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves the Merrion Hotel in Dublin with Nick Clegg (right) after meeting politicians to discuss regulating social media and harmful content (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Archive)
Mark Zuckerberg has apparently joined Elon Musk’s attack on Apple over the way the iPhone giant runs its app store.
Both social media bosses have criticized the fact that Apple has strong control over what’s allowed on iPhones and other devices, and suggested abusing that power.
Mr Musk began attacking Apple this week for reducing digital purchases made with an iPhone, stopping advertising on Twitter and suggesting it threatened to kick Twitter off the App Store . Neither he nor Apple commented on the latter claim, but other social networks have been removed from the App Store in the past for not properly moderating content.
Then Mr. Zuckerberg joined that attack, suggesting that Apple’s “platform control” allows them to further their own interests. He said that the fact that “companies have to offer their apps exclusively on platforms controlled by competitors – there is a conflict of interest”.
He also said that Apple is the only company “that’s trying to unilaterally control what apps are coming onto the device, and I don’t think that’s sustainable or a good place.” He pointed out the differences with Microsoft’s and Google’s operating systems, which allow apps to be “sideloaded” without going through their respective app stores.
Apple has repeatedly defended its control of the App Store and says the cuts made will be used to fund this moderation. It has claimed that it can prevent unsafe and other problematic apps from being downloaded, and that sideloading would weaken that security.
Mr. Zuckerberg did not explicitly agree with Mr. Musk in the remarks he made during the New York Times “Dealbook” conference. Hr also appeared to distance himself from some of Mr Musk’s content moderation decisions, saying that he thinks “the industry becomes more interesting when people take different approaches”.
Mark Zuckerberg’s meta has had troubles with Apple over the past few years. The company’s introduction of “App Tracking Transparency,” or ATT — a new feature that makes it harder for developers to track people using their phone — has significantly reduced ad revenue, and Meta has claimed it lost billions as a result.
However, Mr Musk appears to be warming to Apple. He tweeted Wednesday that he was visiting CEO Tim Cook on Apple’s campus – and that the threat to remove Twitter from the App Store appeared to be the result of a misunderstanding.
