Apple has resumed advertising on X, marking its return after more than a year of hiatus. The tech giant, along with several other major advertisers, halted ad spending over brand safety concerns following Elon Musk's acquisition of the company. While the change to X's content moderation policies is minor, Apple's move reflects Musk's shifting relationship with big tech companies, especially since Donald Trump took office as president.
On Wednesday, MacRumors reported that Apple and Apple TV accounts were running ads on X promoting Safari privacy features and the Apple TV+ series "Severance." The reports suggest that Apple is considering the possibility of testing advertising on the platform since January.
In November 2023, Apple joined companies such as Amazon, Disney, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and IBM, which pulled their ads after Musk made controversial comments related to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and white pride. However, all of those brands have since returned, and Amazon is reportedly planning to significantly increase its ad spending. This evolution follows current legal control X for large groups of advertisers (except Apple).
 In August 2024, X filed an anti-trust complaint, accusing the company of illegally participating in joint boycotts, and held billions of dollars in the form of advertising revenue. Musk's leadership in the X field has been met with constant criticism of its inability to limit harmful content, such as disinformation, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and hated discourse. He also personally participated in controversial actions, highlighting more audits. Meanwhile, the European Union is investigating X for violating rules on advertising transparency and content moderation.
