Elon Musk said that Apple has cut back its advertising on Twitter and even threatened to withhold the social network from its app store, suggesting that a fight is brewing between the two companies. 

“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,” Musk tweeted on Monday. “Do they hate free speech in America?” He then posted again and included the Twitter account of Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook: “What’s going on here?”

A few minutes later, he claimed that Apple might boot Twitter from its app store “but won’t tell us why.”

A number of large companies have paused their ads on Twitter since Musk acquired the company for $44 billion last month. The exodus included General Mills Inc. and Pfizer Inc., and the billionaire acknowledged that the defections led to a “massive drop” in revenue. Since the takeover, he has cut thousands of jobs at Twitter, raising concerns that the platform won’t be able to combat hate speech and misinformation. A new approach to verifying accounts also opened the door to trolls impersonating major brands, as well as Musk himself.

Twitter’s relationship with Apple is particularly significant because the tech giant’s app store is one of the main ways that people get on the social network. Phil Schiller, the longtime Apple executive who oversees the app store, deleted his Twitter account after Musk reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump, who had been booted from the platform in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Despite Musk’s tweet, Twitter users said Monday that they continue to see Apple advertising in their feeds.

Cook also has continued to use Twitter personally since Musk’s acquisition. He posted a Thanksgiving message last week “wishing everyone a joyful day.”

Musk has previously tweeted that if Twitter is removed from Apple and Google’s app stores, he will make an alternative phone that can work with the platform. The world’s richest person, who also runs Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, has said that his mission at Twitter is maximizing free speech. He frequently uses his personal account, which has more than 119 million followers, to criticize perceived adversaries and the mainstream media.

Musk has said before that Apple charges an exorbitant commission on in-app purchases, and he renewed that line of attack Monday. He posted a meme that suggested he would rather “go to war” than pay the company’s 30% commission. 

The meme signals that Musk could be considering taking the path of Epic Games Inc. and sidestepping Apple’s fees. When Epic made such a move, Apple removed the hit game Fortnite, sparking a multiyear lawsuit.

In another tweet, Musk suggested that Apple has made demands on Twitter’s content moderation. He also posted a yes-no survey: “Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers.”

Apple and Google have previously removed social networks, including Parler, from their platforms because of inadequate content moderation. In the case of Parler, the app was ultimately restored to both app stores after the social network followed a series of steps to ensure it was moderating content.

—Bloomberg News