Apple Denies Parler From Returning to App Store
Apple has denied Parler’s request to rejoin the App Store, which would have allowed users to download their social media app on all iPhones.
On February 25th Apple informed Parler that, “After having reviewed the new information, we do not believe these changes are sufficient to comply with App Store Review guidelines,” and added that “There is no place for hateful, racist, discriminatory content on the App Store.”
Both Apple and Google have blocked Parler from their App Stores dating back to January in the wake of the January 6th Capitol Hill violence, claiming the social media company did not moderate its content to their standards.
Shortly after being removed from both app stores, Amazon Web Services (AWS) booted them off their servers leaving the once rising free speech platform without a hosting service and effectively offline for over a month.
Parler claims they have worked on adding moderation systems in compliance with Apple rules and regulations, however their request to rejoin the store was rejected by Apple with the tech giant claiming the Parler is still not meeting their standards.
“As you know, developers are required to implement robust moderation capabilities to proactively identify, prevent and filter this objectionable content to protect the health and safety of users,” Apple continued.
Apple claimed that content that has “easily identified offensive uses of derogatory terms regarding race, religion and sexual orientation, as well as Nazi symbols” can allegedly still be found on the platform.
“For these reasons your app cannot be returned to the App Store for distribution until it complies with the guidelines,” Apple concluded.
Parler released a statement claiming they were hopeful to still be added back to the App Store down the road as they continue to work with Apple to meet their standards.
Parler said that they’re, “optimistic that Apple will continue to differentiate itself from other ‘Big Tech’ companies by supporting its customers’ choice to ‘think different’ — to exercise their constitutionally protected freedoms of thought, speech, and association — while using Apple products.”
Do you agree with Apple’s decision to reject Parler’s request to rejoin the App Store? Do you think Apple will ever add Parler back to their App Store? Do you have an account on Parler? Comment your thoughts below!