Twitter Blue Postponed As Apple Wants 30 Percent Of The Stake

Last week Elon Musk announced that Twitter Blue and with it the paid verification for everyone will start this week or rather return in a revised form. But the chaos under Musk’s leadership continues as Blue remains black for the time being.

Last Friday, Elon Musk announced that Twitter Blue would return this week, offering hooks in blue, gray, and gold. This means that not only verified persons but also companies (gold) and authorities (grey) should be immediately recognizable. But like so much these days, the launch doesn’t go according to plan, and that’s because Elon Musk has something to complain about.

Because the new Twitter boss distributed several tweets against Apple last weekend and accused the Cupertino-based company of suppressing freedom of expression. But, as is so often the case with Musk, the truth is different, because the Twitter CEO is of course about the money.

Apple wants money, Twitter is Broke

Because the short message service would have to give up to 30 percent of the Twitter Blue revenue to Apple if it is available as an iOS app via Apple’s App Store. Elon Musk doesn’t want to or, better said, can’t do that at the moment. According to a report by Platformer, the financial situation on Twitter is more than tense.

More than that: Twitter’s ad revenue in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (also known as EMEA) is down 15 percent year-on-year and weekly bookings are down 49 percent, according to an insider. As a former Twitter exec summed it up: “It’s disastrous.”

The power struggle with Apple has now probably led to the postponement of Twitter Blue, but it is also very likely that Musk will fit in because there are also technical problems with the adjustments. Because they are apparently still working on verification by telephone number.

Incidentally, Musk is already getting backing from politics: With Ron DeSantis, the influential governor of Florida has already spoken out on the matter. The politician has attacked Apple, saying that removing Twitter from the App Store would be a “huge mistake” and a “really gross exercise of monopoly power.” That DeSantis is siding with Musk is not surprising given that the Tesla founder recently stated that