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SAN FRANCISCO, USA: A dispute between tech giants heated up Thursday when Apple’s CEO hinted that Facebook’s business model promotes disinformation and violence, while the social network prepares an antitrust lawsuit against Manzana.
The lawsuit accuses Apple of abusing control of its App Store by requiring third-party app developers, such as Facebook, to abide by rules that don’t apply to their own apps, technology publication The Information reported.
“As we have repeatedly said, we believe that Apple is behaving anticompetitively by using its control of the App Store to benefit its results at the expense of app developers and small businesses,” Facebook told AFP, declining to confirm or deny the report. .
Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but CEO Tim Cook appeared to take aim at Facebook when he criticized “algorithmically crafted conspiracy and disinformation theories” during a virtual data privacy conference in Brussels on Thursday, according to reports from CNBC and the Wall Street Journal.
Cook didn’t mention Facebook by name, but business models based on targeted advertising, which accounts for the bulk of the social network’s revenue, media reports indicated.
“If a company relies on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are not choices at all, it doesn’t deserve our praise,” Cook was quoted as saying.
He reasoned that allowing online platforms to serve as a stage for extremist groups or to cast doubt on life-saving vaccines can result in “polarization, loss of trust and yes, violence,” according to media reports.
Tech giants have been battling over changes to the latest version of Apple’s iOS operating software, which includes a tracking transparency feature that Facebook says will cripple its ability to serve targeted ads.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during an earnings conference call with investors on Wednesday that Apple was becoming one of his company’s biggest competitors.
“Apple has every incentive to use its dominant platform position to interfere with the operation of our apps and other apps, which they regularly do to prefer theirs,” Zuckerberg said.
“Apple may say they are doing this to help people, but the movements clearly follow their competitive interests.”
Facebook is not alone in its complaints about how Apple manages the App Store, where it collects 30 percent of sales or subscription fees from third-party offers.
Some developers say Apple takes too large a share of revenue and maintains rigid policies that can cripple competitive services. Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, has taken Apple to court for the practice.
Apple has argued that its App Store gives billions of dollars to independent developers and that its practices are reasonable compared to other digital markets.
Apple still makes most of its money from iPhone sales, but it has prioritized selling games, shows, music, and more to those who are dedicated to its devices.
