November 30, 2022
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Apple’s threat to Elon Musk that it will cancel Twitter from the App Store confirmsanticompetitive corporate censorship regime strangling U.S. economy
By Robert Romano
“Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its AppStore, but won’t tell us why.”
That was Twitter CEO ElonMusk on Nov. 28 in a tweet, warning Twitter’s morethan 250 million daily active users that their favorite app may be removedfrom Apple’s App Store available exclusively on iPhones after Musk purchasedTwitter for $44 billion.
And yet Musk’s purchase of Twitter — which works perfectlyfine, by the way, as I use it every day —appears to be the only conceivable reasonto remove it from the App Store.
By offering free speech as a product in Twitter and takingthe company private, Musk has revealed and confirmed an anticompetitivecorporate censorship regime that took down Parler in 2021 and compelled formerPresident Donald Trump to launch Truth Social after his own Twitter andFacebook accounts were suspended after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S.Capitol the day Congress was to certify President Joe Biden’s election.
In fact, Twitter is usedby more than 110 million businesses large and small worldwide to communicatewith customers, clients and even employees every single day. If it weresuddenly removed from Apple devices, the amount of commerce and services thatwould be disrupted could be incalculable.
Because that commerce includes both interstate commerce andinternational commerce, it has long fallen squarely on Congress’ lap to protectit with wise laws — such as communications laws, antitrust laws, securitieslaws, etc. — to ensure that said commerce is not disrupted to such a degree it.
Indeed, companies like Apple are not immune from commercialregulations, and by declaring itself the lord of the U.S. economy by cancellingone of the most important apps used in the global economy, it would surelyinvite even more oversight, rules and perhaps even taxes.
For example, landline phones have long been bound byregulation from the Federal Communications Commission after it was created byCongress in 1934 to regulate public utilities. Cell phones are furtherregulated under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The conditions of those lawscould easily be changed by Congress, or existing FCC (or FTC, or SEC)regulations could be modified, suspended or defunded by Congress in any futurebudget, omnibus spending bill or continuing resolution.
Especially if Apple’s potential rationale for cancellingTwitter was political.
Or perhaps was driven by political or even governmentalagencies using the pressure of regulation to achieve the censorship under theguise of private corporate terms of service. Those might include theCybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Administration or the FBI, or eventhe NSA. Those are all regulable by Congress as well. They better not beinvolved. But some of them likely are.
The fact it was even threatened similarly invites theregulation of massive platform companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebookand others, but also payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, because itmeans that alternative voices like Musk’s are actually not allowed.
And this is Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men. So,if the internet’s not safe for him to do business, sell electric vehicles, gethumanity to Mars and post Dogecoin memes, then it’s not safe for any of us. Howcan anyone make money in an environment where whether commerce is allowed ornot is not by the top regulator, Congress, but by a few megalithic corporationsthat answer to no one.
These companies forget themselves. They are subject toregulation, taxation and even prohibition. The Constitution limits the exerciseof the commerce power, but federal courts have long allowed for additionalregulation, especially when it has to do with smaller businesses beingthreatened by larger businesses.
The American people will tolerate many things. Obsceneprofits. Golden parachutes. And so forth.
But they will not long tolerate censorship, especially ifits purpose is foster establishmentarian one-party rule in a country foundedand framed to prevent it.
Apple has a $2 trillion market cap. Twitter comparativelywas worth just $44 billion in the end. That fact alone should not be enough toallow Apple to destroy that many years of investment and development, and todisrupt and restrict commerce among hundreds of millions of users. Americansprefer more democratic and market-driven systems that allow for fair tradepractices and competition, which allows the cream to rise to top.
But with Apple and Google’s iron grip on smart phones—neededfor many commercial transactions—competition is clearly being restricted. Musk onNov. 28 hosteda poll proposing to Twitter users that “Apple should publish all censorshipactions it has taken that affect its customers.” 84.7 percent said yes with 2.2million voting. They know what’s going on. They’re not stupid.
Musk also issued an ominous warning about what it would meanfor humanity if Twitter were cancelled, tweeting on Nov.28: “This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech islost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.” He’s right.
Removing Twitter from Apple iPhones because Elon Musk boughtTwitter and Apple doesn’t like his politics or views on free speech istyrannical. It likely violates federal antitrust laws. It is censorship. And itmust be stopped by Congress — before it is too late.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy atAmericans for Limited Government.
Video: Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes Joins Americans For Limited Government’s Rick Manning
To view online: https://rumble.com/v1y3v1u-truth-social-ceo-devin-nunes-joins-americans-for-limited-governments-rick-m.html