According to a new report from Axios, Apple is pausing all advertising on Twitter, the social media platform currently known as X.
The move comes after a report on Thursday highlighted that ads from Apple and other companies were shown alongside far-right conspiracy theories and antisemitic content.
Today’s report from Axios cites anonymous sources and says that Apple is “pausing all advertising” on X. There are no further details on how long this pause will last. It follows a similar decision from IBM, which announced plans to pause all advertising on the platform on Thursday.
A report from Media Matters on Thursday highlighted that ads from a number of companies were being shown alongside posts containing far-right conspiracy theories and antisemitic content. The report cited examples, including ads from Apple, IBM, Oracle, and more.
Apple’s decision also comes after Elon Musk himself backed an antisemitic tweet that accused “Jewish communities” of pushing “dialectical hatred against whites” on Wednesday. “You have said the actual truth,” Musk tweeted.
When Elon Musk initially acquired Twitter last year and implemented several changes to things like verification and content moderation, Apple briefly scaled back its advertising on the platform.
At the time, Musk publicly accused Apple of hating free speech and said the company had “mostly stopped” advertising on Twitter. Musk then paid a visit to Apple Park to meet with Tim Cook. Shortly thereafter, Apple resumed advertising on Twitter.
Two months ago, Tim Cook defended Apple’s decision to continue advertising on Twitter in an interview with John Dickerson.
“It’s something that we ask ourselves. Generally, my view is Twitter’s an important property,” Cook said in that interview. “I like the concept that it’s there for discourse and there as a town square. There’s also some things about it I don’t like.”
It’s unclear how long Apple’s newly implemented Twitter advertising “pause” will last. The company has not commented on the report from Axios.
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