This image shows the logo of Parler’s social media app displayed on a smartphone with its website in the background on July 2, 2020. (Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED at 6:57 am PT – Saturday 9 January 2021
A social networking service known as Parler is facing immense pressure from major technology companies to strengthen its content moderation policies.
On Friday, Google and Apple suspended Parler from their app stores, claiming that some of the political positions on the platform incite violence and need to be regulated. A Google spokesman said the suspension would remain in effect until developers submit a detailed content moderation plan and resolve what he called a “threat to public security”.
The company noted that the move will not affect Parler’s availability on the web, nor will it remove the app from existing users’ devices.
Meanwhile, Apple has taken a more aggressive approach, giving Parler 24 hours to improve its content moderation or be removed indefinitely from the app store.
Now, Apple and Google threaten to ban Parler to stop people from using any alternative platform.
They are creating a monopoly. They DO NOT want IDEAS or CONVERSATIONS that they are not able to control.
They don’t want conservatives to communicate with each other.
– Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 9, 2021
Although founded in 2018, Parler recently became known as the social media alternative for those who have been banned or silenced on major social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Parler is not a “right-wing” application, it just protects freedom of expression. It is neutral point of view.
This is what our digital sovereigns are so concerned with: freedom of speech. Democrats cannot afford a place to share ideas without a thumb on the scale.
It is worth asking why
– Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) January 9, 2021
Some notable users include Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Who turned to the platform earlier this year after their voices were largely silenced elsewhere.
Amid the recent ban, many agree that Silicon Valley has gone too far.
“We can’t just revoke someone’s voice because we don’t agree with what they say,” said Professor Monica Stephens of the University of Buffalo.
Despite the threats, Parler’s CEO, John Matze, is standing firm, ensuring he will not meet the requirements of Apple and Google. He went on to accuse companies of applying standards to Parler that do not apply to their own services.
He added that America “has already lost if speech has to be restricted or censored to keep the country safe.”