Elon Musk says he will create his own smartphone if Apple and Google drop Twitter app amid rightward lurch

New Twitter boss Elon Musk said he’s not opposed to the idea of creating his own smartphone if Apple and Google remove the app from their platforms.

After sparking controversy earlier this week by proposing “general amnesty” for suspended accounts, Musk responded to right-wing podcaster Liz Wheeler’s suggestion that he should create a new phone if the tech giants choose to boot Twitter from their app stores.

Ms Wheeler pointed out that the endeavour would not be a challenge for a man who builds rockets to Mars, and claimed that “half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android” and purchase instead what she coined as the “tELONphone.”

Musk said that he is contemplating the idea as a last resort.

“I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone,” he wrote.

Musk has faced backlash for defending lax restrictions after his $44bn (£37m) Twitter takeover last month.

He pressed that accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam” would be allowed back on the platform.

In the past, Twitter has implemented bans on accounts over questionable content, abuse, misinformation, extremism, threats of violence, and violation of privacy or copyright.

The Tesla founder has already reversed bans on controversial figures including Donald Trump, whose account was banned for dangerous speech in the aftermath of the January 6 attack in the Capitol.

The new Twitter CEO has also reinstated right-wing professor Jordan Peterson and comedian Kathy Griffin, who had changed her handle to “Elon Musk,” on the platform.

Musk’s “amnesty” proposal would likely entail a more widespread reverse of bans.

Since Musk finalised the takeover, Twitter has experienced a plethora of woes.

After Twitter controversially suggested it would begin charging monthly fees for the “blue check” verification system, the platform saw a proliferation of fake accounts and a spike of tweets with racial slurs, according to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

Musk also sparked a mass exodus of staffers after telling employees to commit to the new company ethos or leave. Following massive layoffs after the takeover, at least 1,200 have quit, according to The New York Times.