Google suspended the social media application Parler from its Play Store until the popular platform with many supporters of Donald Trump adds “robust” content moderation.
As Twitter has suspended the account of the President of the United States permanently at the risk of further incitement to violence, ”the search engine said it was blocking Parler and Apple gave the service 24 hours to present a detailed moderation plan.
Parler is a social network that many Trump supporters migrated to after being banned from platforms like Twitter. Plans for the Washington DC protests that ended with the Capitol invasion this week were widely shared in Parler.
The actions of the two Silicon Valley companies mean that Parler may be unavailable for new downloads from the world’s top mobile app stores in one day. It would still be available on mobile browsers.
Parler Chief Executive John Matze said in posts on his service on Friday that Apple was applying standards to Parler that did not apply to itself and that companies were attacking civil liberties. He added in a text message to Reuters: “Coordinating riots, violence and rebellions has no place on social media.”
Right-wing social media users in the United States flocked to Parler, the Telegram messaging app and the social site Gab, citing the more aggressive policing of political comments on conventional platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
Upon suspending the service, Google, whose software powers Android phones, cited its policy against apps that promote violence and gave recent examples of Parler, including a Friday post that started: “How do we get our country back? About 20 coordinated attacks ”and another promoting a“ Millions of Militias March ”in Washington.
In a statement, Google said that “in order to distribute an application through Google Play, we require that applications implement robust moderation for shocking content. In light of this continuing and urgent threat to public safety, we are suspending Play Store app listings * until it resolves these issues. ”
In a letter from the Apple App Store review team to Parler Vista, Apple cited participants from the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday.
“Content that threatens the well-being of others or is intended to incite violence or other illegal acts has never been acceptable on the App Store,” Apple said in the letter.
Apple gave Parler 24 hours to “remove all objectionable content from its application … as well as any content regarding damage to people or attacks on government facilities now or at any future date.”
The company also demanded that Parler submit a written plan “to moderate and filter this content” of the application.
Apple declined to comment.
Matze, who describes himself as a libertarian, founded Parler in 2018 as a “freedom of speech” alternative to mainstream platforms, but began courting right-wing users as prominent Trump supporters moved there.
Among the attendees are commentator Candace Owens, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who handcuffed herself outside the Twitter office in New York in 2018 to protest the site’s ban. In November, conservative activist Rebekah Mercer confirmed that she and her family, which includes her father and hedge fund investor Robert Mercer, provided funds to Parler.
Matze said of Apple: “Apparently, they believe that Parler is responsible for ALL user generated content in Parler. By the same logic, Apple should be responsible for ALL actions taken on their phones. Every car bomb, every illegal cell phone conversation, every illegal crime committed on an iPhone, Apple must also be responsible. “