Apple has been accused of helping China crack down on free speech, and now, according to Ben Shapiro, the tech giant may now be teaming up with the Biden administration and much of the media to silence Americans on Twitter.
The Daily Wire radio and podcast host told his listeners Tuesday that Apple’s reported plan to drop Twitter from its app store is rich, given the iEverything maker’s ongoing collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party. Apple hasn’t confirmed the plan or given a reason why it might be under consideration, but several big companies object to Twitter owner Elon Musk allowing once-banned conservative voices back on the platform.
“Apple stumps for open relations with China because they make a lot of money over in China,” Shapiro said. “Meanwhile, while Apple cracks down on the protesters in China at the behest of the Chinese government, they’re also apparently now cracking down on Twitter.”
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Musk tweeted Monday that Apple is considering banning the Twitter app, and pointedly asked Apple CEO Tim Cook, “What’s going on here?” Given that apps are only widely available through Apple and Google, such a move would be a big blow to Twitter. The two companies teamed with Amazon Web Services to deal a near-fatal blow to Parler in the wake of the January 6 riots, claiming participants used the social media platform to organize.
Unlike Facebook, which Shapiro pointed out refuses to help Beijing silence its citizens, Apple is all in for China, where parts for its key products are manufactured. Earlier this month, Apple blocked users in China from using its AirDrop feature, effectively barring demonstrators from using the peer-to-peer communication tool amid widespread protests over draconian COVID lockdowns.
In the U.S., any plan by Apple to silence voices on social media would seem to have government help as well. Shapiro noted that White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ominously said Monday that the Biden administration is carefully watching Twitter amid complaints Musk’s loosening of the reins is allowing “misinformation.”
This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2022
“Amazing stuff from the White House,” Shapiro said. “The White House is very upset with Elon Musk and the ability for people to use that app to distribute information they don’t like, not so interested in China cracking down on citizenry.”
Americans can’t count on the media to stand up for freedom of speech either, Shapiro noted. A report in The Washington Post claimed that Musk’s decision to dismantle a Twitter unit called the “trust and safety team” would result in widespread hate speech on the platform. Several fired content moderators have portrayed Musk’s Twitter as a “wild west,” although other observers have noted that for the first time, the platform seems to be purging links to child pornography, which proliferated before Musk’s arrival.
Musk has restored accounts of conservatives including The Babylon Bee, Dr. Jordan Peterson of The Daily Wire+, and former President Trump, as well as ending the site’s so-called “COVID misinformation policy,” which got many medical experts banned for tweeting information that contradicted the government but often later proved true.
Shapiro said Musk’s handling of Twitter differs from fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos’ stewardship of The Washington Post, which he bought in 2013.
“He is actually taking all the flak for all the decisions that Twitter is making as opposed to Jeff Bezos who hands it off to his lackeys and then he disconnects himself from the business,” Shapiro said. “And Musk is not saying the algorithm is responsible for this stuff. He’s saying, ‘I’m responsible for this stuff.’”
“That is what we call accountability.”