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Apple Resumes Advertising on X
- gnabgib 2y agoDiscussion (72 points, 1 day ago, 36 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43031493 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43031493 (41 points, 23 hours ago, 48 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43032112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43032112
- quyleanh 2y agoThese two discussions are flagged, lol. I bet this one will be flagged too. Is there a group of people who don’t want this news to spread?
- Eric_WVGG 2y agofor real. I'd like some answers.
- gnabgib 2y agoYes it's curious, that - it's an interesting story (although the comments aren't always thoughtful and substantive). Perhaps an email to mods is in order?
- portaouflop 2y agoWhy is it an interesting story?
- dinp 2y agoI think political news are not encouraged here, exceptions for when interesting discussions are possible. Judging by the quality of comments here and in the linked submissions, it's a good thing.
- quyleanh 2y agoIt’s definitely not political news. I don’t see any guideline term that it violated.
- bamboozled 2y agoWhat's going on at the moment isn't politics and that's why it's being discussed so heavily.
- wakawaka28 2y agoNo, it is politics. Apple stopped advertising on X over politics, not technical reasons. The Democrat-run media has successfully convinced a large number of highly conformist individuals that we've got another Hitler on our hands, and a lot of these people opine about their paranoia extensively on HN.
- ChrisArchitect 2y agoIt's also a dupe. Doesn't matter if they were eventually flagged, there was already a bunch of views, upvotes, and discussion. Flagging after awhile is annoying, but also discussion devolves. It's not nothing tho. All is not lost. Stuff moves fast around here. And discussion continues there also as ppl follow the links.
- ksec 2y agoThank You. At least some on HN knows
- dang 2y agoThanks. These discussions are so unbelievably bad* that the user flags must be correct. * By "bad" I mean bad for HN: low-substance, flamey, high-indignation, high-snark. Not what this site is for. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- swdaDWDWQ 2y ago[flagged]
- swdaDWDWQ 2y ago[flagged]
- juujian 2y agoEasiest way to pay off Musk and his DOGE.
- bamboozled 2y agoFree speech, pro choice, all the time.
- pokstad 2y ago> Musk clearly learned his lesson. Since then, he’s been lying low, out of the public eye, and refraining from any sort of controversial statements or actions. He barely even tweets anymore. Is this satire? I honestly can’t tell.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- readthenotes1 2y agoSatire. They forgot the satire font, aor even /s
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- troll_v_bridge 2y agoSatire. He rarely criticizes apple directly, but I think he’s mindful that it’s required for Apple in the current politics to not become a target.
- jlaternman 2y agoI honestly can’t understand how you think this might not be satire. Musk has been lying low, out of the public eye, avoiding controversy? Barely tweeting?
- relaxing 2y agoIf you can’t tell that is satire then you owe it to yourself to keep better informed about current events.
- lenerdenator 2y ago[flagged]
- inatreecrown2 2y agoIt's interesting to see Gruber repeatedly mocking Apple's CEO. I also find it curious that so many in the tech blog / news sphere can't stop denouncing everything to do with the new administration. To me it seems like a sort of signaling "I will not bend, I have integrity", when in fact they are just being ignorant.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago[flagged]
- inatreecrown2 2y agoWhat surprises me the most is the extreme black and white view of things. Like nothing good can come out of it if it is not from my party. Anyway, let's enjoy our downvotes :-)
- buttercraft 2y ago> extreme black and white view of things You mean, like, the poster you're responding to? That's their M.O.
- bccdee 2y ago[flagged]
- immibis 2y ago[flagged]
- thefounder 2y agoExactly. Before Elon it was an echo chamber for the previous administration (policy wise) like Reddit and other social media companies. Try to say anything against DEI on Reddit and you get immediately suspended(at least on the technology subreddit)
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago[flagged]
- bamboozled 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- gitfan86 2y ago[flagged]
- romanovcode 2y ago[flagged]
- bag_boy 2y agoOut of sight, out of mind.
- croes 2y agoAre these the same Republicans who now ban the use of certain words, the same Musk said cis and cisgender are considered slur words on Twitter?
- tzs 2y agoIf you are thinking of the stories of Foxconn worker suicides a few years ago that turned out to be a big nothing. Their suicide rates were lower than US factory workers of similar age. It drew attention initially because they were reported as suicides at work whereas similar aged US factory workers that commit suicide usually do it at home. It turns out that Chinese workers who commit also usually do it at home, but in China workers at big factories like those of Foxconn often live in company owned housing.
- talldayo 2y agoI think they're referring to China's relaxed labor laws that permit the equivalent of slavery. To say nothing of the Uighurs, it's been long known that North Korean laborers are shipped there to work without pay in inhospitable and captive conditions: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68226271 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68226271 The Foxconn incidents were overblown, but it absolutely highlights the cognitive dissonance in Apple's principles of operations. It really is quite funny watching people pretend to care about Tim Cook bending the knee when we've already watched him acquiesce to authoritarianism for market access. We always knew Apple's dependence on China was unhealthy, but America is too allergic to regulation to deter them.
- ineedaj0b 2y agoThis is good. The truly worst websites are usually only found with a .tor browser. If Apple started advertising on Stormfront I'll get concerned, but right now X has fantastic discussion for ML devs and shows me stuff like this: https://x.com/Brittymigs/status/1889708756851634439 https://x.com/Brittymigs/status/1889708756851634439 Opponents probably aren't using the site. Or have a fervor for something else and misdirecting it towards X.
- bamboozled 2y agoOr have a fervor for something else and misdirecting it towards X. Not allowed to have an alternate opinion anymore hey ? It's interesting to me how the whole MAGA / Elon absolute "free speech" has now become the opposite of what it started out to be in favor of :)
- immibis 2y agoIt's always been "we want to have the right to drown out your speech" - it hasn't flipped.
- drak0n1c 2y agoI too remember that old slogan: "it's a private platform".
- ineedaj0b 2y agoIt's still the same, you're welcome to express it, and it's useful for finding those who've swallowed millennial psy-ops without a glass of water.
- bamboozled 2y agoSo not beliving in "The DOGE" means you've been had by millennial "psy-ops"? Seems hilarious but ok.
- ineedaj0b 2y agono. You aren't even on topic. Aren't coders supposed to be smart? You can't even correctly model me, god forbid you try to understand your political opponents. Am I betting on a red 2028? If people like you keep at it, I will. Be better.
- m3kw9 2y ago[flagged]
- threeseed 2y agoThis has nothing to do with Musk’s views or X’s objectionable content. It’s about buying support from Musk who is right now the CEO in Chief.
- idunnoman1222 2y agoAnd what was it about before?
- arvinsim 2y ago[flagged]
- WheatMillington 2y agoThe combined fandom of Elon Musk and Apple is a force to be reckoned with.
- WahG129ah 2y ago[flagged]
- thomassmith65 2y agoI half-expected that comment to end with "sorry, wrong window"
- eggsandbeer 2y ago[flagged]
- jader201 2y agoI think it boils down to the fact that intelligent, curious discussion on topics like this can’t be held on the internet. Even on HN, the comments on the previous threads, and already in this thread too, are getting downvoted and flagged (mine will soon follow, I’m sure). Politics is an internet trigger. It can draw out the worst in even the most otherwise civil people.
- wordofx 2y agoThe left can’t understand people exist with a different view point or even fathom the concept that they could be wrong.
- ergonaught 2y agoOne day maybe you will recognize that generalizations are shortcuts your brain uses to avoid having to spend energy thinking.
- darth_avocado 2y agoCompanies that have no political ideologies except to make as much money as they can, resume doing <insert whatever self serving behavior it is> the minute it’s profitable to do so. There, I fixed the headlines for you.
- programmerpass 2y agoIt was profitable to do so a year ago, it was simply dangerous politically. Now given Trump is in office and aligned with Musk, it’s politically beneficial. That seems to be the truth.
- ramraj07 2y agoIf anything it's politically dangerous not to advertise there.
- darth_avocado 2y ago> It was profitable to do so a year ago, it was simply dangerous politically. Explain? Because if it was politically dangerous, it automatically means it wasn’t profitable.
- programmerpass 2y agoIf an activity is profitable but the government can prosecute you for taking place in that activity, there in no correlation. That’s the point. Advertising was dangerous because there was a perception that the previous US government would politically prosecute anyone who opposed them. Companies advertising on X, and hence supporting opposition such as Musk, would fall into this category.
- bko 2y agoThe world is healing. Seriously though, I certainly don’t want my companies to have political ideologies. Follow the law, be good to customers and serve everyone.
- 2y ago
- quyleanh 2y agoThe original comment by gnabgib was flagged after a while, so I will post it again for those who come later. I think this comment will be flagged soon. I don’t know why some people don’t want this news to spread. Two previous discussions were flagged as well: [1] Apple Resumes Advertising on X | 44 points by greyadept 23 hours ago | 49 comments | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43032112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43032112 [2] Apple is once again advertising on X, more than a year after stopping all ads | 76 points by ksec 1 day ago | 38 comments | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43031493 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43031493
- gabeio 2y agoThis site is not about just any news anyone wants to hear about, there is a focus behind it. And honestly the reason I frequent this website is specifically because political garbage is usually down voted, flagged or removed fairly quickly as it typically just causes flame wars with no actual actionable things and nothing of value is learned from it.
- quyleanh 2y agoCould I tag @dang moderator for asking removing flag?
- metadat 2y agoTagging / @mentions don't trigger anything unless a mod happens to see it (which is rare / unlikely, given the volume of posts every day). However, you can email the staff: hn@ycombinator.com. Be sure to include your reasoning for what is wrong with or unfair about the tag and why the story warrants special treatment.
- ks2048 2y agoIt’s often cited that Twitter/X lost 80% of its value since Musk took over. Is this possible to confirm? If it’s private now, are there ways to judge its success or estimate its value?
- snowwrestler 2y agoThere were news reports last year that Fidelity marked down their equity holdings in X by over 70%.
- drak0n1c 2y agoPre-Aquisition Twitter $5 billion revenue $682 million EBITDA 2024 X $2.7 billion revenue $1.25 billion EBITDA Last week Alwaleed bin Talal a longtime Twitter and X investor said his holdings have held value after the acquisition and he considers it in the process of doubling. Some banks also reported selling their debt in 2024 for 97 cents on the dollar. Interview: https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1887210068485009599 https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1887210068485009599 https://www.semafor.com/article/02/07/2025/musks-x-doubled-in-value-with-payments-and-video-integration-saudi-prince-says https://www.semafor.com/article/02/07/2025/musks-x-doubled-i...
- xiphias2 2y agoWhile this is true, (and I don't want to try to be politically neutral here), if we look at Elon's enormous increase in power and also significant increase in wealth, it would definately be positive ROI for him. He went through a lot of stress thought being leveraged in the stock market crash.
- raydev 2y agoWhere are you getting the $2.7 billion number? This article from Jan 30 says 1.2 billion: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/x-financials-under-musk-signal-170308738.html?guccounter=1 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/x-financials-under-musk-signa...
- senordevnyc 2y agoThat 2021 figure is after a legal settlement. If you don’t include that, the EBITDA was $1.47 billion.
- threeseed 2y agoNot surprising. Economic war is coming between the EU and US companies once Trump imposes tariffs. And Apple needs Trump and Musk as allies rather than enemies.
- snowwrestler 2y agoThey left because of fears about reputation damage, but since no one cares about reputations right now, there’s nothing to fear anymore. Might as well pick up a few additional sales.
- sinoue 2y agoCook is a smart man. Showed up at Trump's inauguration after paying $1 million. Advertising back on X so they have some leverage to prevent damaging tariffs and sanctions that would impact Apple's manufacturing in China.