The vast majority of users access Twitter on iPhones and Android devices. Apple and Google safeguard those products and operate the payment systems on their respective app marketplaces. After a botched debut, Twitter plans to relaunch Twitter Blue—a subscription plan that offers verification to any paying customer—at $8 per month on Nov. 29. That means Apple and Google both stand to benefit, with the new Twitter Blue costing $3 more per month than the last version.
So there are two potential scenarios in which the app stores block Twitter: if it tries to circumvent in-app purchases and if it doesn’t police its content to the satisfaction of Apple and Google. That means the road to Musk creating a successful subscription service runs right through those two tech giants.