Free Speech

LBRY alleges Apple forced it to censor certain terms amid COVID-19 pandemic

After Elon Musk lamented the winding back of Apple’s Twitter advertising, crypto company LBRY replied about its own troubles with Apple and censorship.

Blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network LBRY has alleged that tech giant Apple forced it to filter out certain search terms during the height of the COVID-19 crisis in an apparent censorship attempt. 

In a Nov. 28 post on Twitter, LBRY alleges that it was asked to censor anything related to COVID-19, especially vaccines and potential human origins of the virus, or face having its apps removed from the Apple store.

“We had to build a list of over 20 terms to not show results for, only on Apple devices. If we did not filter the terms, our apps would not be allowed in the store,” the crypto company alleged.

LBRY is a decentralized content-sharing platform that allows artists, filmmakers, writers and other content creators to retain full artistic and financial control over their work. Its Odysee video-sharing website is one of its best-known apps, but it’s unclear if this application was involved in the alleged censorship.

The blockchain firm made the revelation in response to a post from Elon Musk, who said that Apple has “mostly stopped” advertising on Twitter due to concerns about the social media platform’s content, prompting LBRY to share its experience with Apple during the COVID-19 pandemic.

LBRY also alleged that when some of its users included images of Pepe the Frog in videos, Apple “rejected” them.

Pepe the Frog is an Internet meme of a green anthropomorphic frog originating in 2005, which has since been adopted by protest groups in Hong Kong alongside being used in right-wing political ideology.

The crypto company said that “Apple may make good products, but they have been opposed to free speech for some time.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Apple for comment but has not received a reply by the time of publication.

Related: Crypto Twitter unhappy with SBF ‘puff piece’ pushed by mainstream media

Meanwhile, discussions around censorship on Twitter have continued to rage on. 

Musk took over Twitter on Oct. 28 and has been teasing the release of the “Twitter Files,” supposed proof of a concentrated effort by the previous Twitter administration to stifle free speech on the platform.

Musk’s takeover of Twitter and subsequent plans for the platform have seen some users seek out decentralized social networks as an alternative. 

Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey recently unveiled his new Bitcoin (BTC)-powered Bluesky Social app as part of a decentralized answer to Twitter.

The Oct. 18 announcement came roughly three years after the initiative was announced by Dorsey, with the goal of allowing users to have control over their data and be able to move it from platform to platform without permission.

Twitter monetization and free speech drove Binance’s $500M injection: CZ

Binance will also assist Twitter’s integration into Web3 by implementing crypto payments and deploying a dedicated team of on-chain specialists to stop spam bot accounts.

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has explained the reasoning behind its $500 million co-investment into Elon Musk’s Twitter, citing monetization potential, crypto community free speech and the opportunity to eventually “help bring Twitter into Web3.” 

CZ’s comments came from an Oct. 31 CNBC Squawk Box segment, where he explained what drove his co-investment with Elon Musk to acquire the social media platform noting:

“I believe Twitter has not been monetized well, it has not grown well, there’s many tactical problems like bots that spam my comments, there’s scammer accounts on there, it’s not been run well.”

“But I think the platform has huge value in itself, and especially now with Elon at the helm, we’re very confident,” he added.

Binance has not wavered in its support for Musk’s acquisition of Twitter since it first announced its support in May 2022. Other co-investors include Sequoia Capital Fund, Fidelity Management and Research Company.

The Binance CEO said Twitter’s difficult price valuation didn’t impact its investment decision as they considered the long-term prospects to be strong while giving crypto a “seat at the table” when it comes to free speech:

“We’re long-term investors, we believe in strong entrepreneurs, we believe in strong platforms, we believe in free speech […] we look at this from a 10, 20, 50, 100-year basis, so a little price fluctuation on a monthly basis doesn’t bother us.”

However, decisions as to what Twitter accounts are re-activated won’t lie in the hands of Musk, who said that a new “content moderation council” will bear the duty to determine what banned user accounts are restored.

However, the billionaire entrepreneur confirmed in a tweet that the council will exercise its discretion with “widely diverse viewpoints.”

CZ says it invested as it also hopes to play a part in Twitter’s eventual transition to Web3, such as adding cryptocurrency-based payments onto the social media platform:

“We want to help solve those immediate problems like charging for memberships [….] that can be done very easily by using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.”

According to a Reuters report on Oct. 28, the crypto exchange plans to create a dedicated team to work on potential crypto and blockchain-based solutions for Twitter.

The new team will explore how to build on-chain solutions to address issues such as spam bot accounts.

Related: Twitter’s top brass gutted as Elon Musk’s takeover begins

Binance’s $500 million investment into Twitter makes them the fourth-largest shareholder in the social media platform among 19 investors.

Twitter is also no longer a publicly-traded company, having been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 28, following Musk’s decision to take the company private.