Mark Zuckerberg takes a dig at Apple’s App Store commission

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not hold back from criticising iPhone-maker Apple during an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast on January 10, claiming innovation within the hardware company had slowed down while also calling out their “random rules.”

In particular, Zuckerberg took aim at Apple’s commission policy for developers on its app store.

Apple has also faced antitrust complaints over its app store fees.

“On the one hand it’s been great because, you know, now pretty much everyone in the world has a phone and that enables pretty amazing things, but on the other hand like you’re saying, they have used that platform to put a lot of rules in place that I think it feel[s] arbitrary and feel[s] like you know they [Apple] haven’t really invented anything great in a while,” said Zuckerberg to Rogan, adding that it was as though Apple was “sitting on” Steve Jobs’ invention - the iPhone - as much as 20 years later.

Zuckerberg went on to say that Apple was making more money as a company by “squeezing people” through means such as the “30% tax on developers,” as well as phone accessories.

During the course of the interaction, Zuckerberg also defended Meta’s more conservative shift and policy decisions related to this, such as ending their third-party fact-checking recently.

He further called for more “masculine energy” in the corporate sector, and linked this idea to his own martial arts practice and his pig-hunting activities.

As Donald Trump is set to return as the U.S. president this year, Meta is adopting a more pro-Trump approach and echoing popular conservative talking points. The company is also removing restrictions on topics such as gender and immigration on their platforms, despite concerns this could amplify abuse against people of colour and transgender people online.

The social media giant is also reportedly ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, per an internal memo.

Meta has further contributed $1 million to president-elect Trump’s inauguration fund.