- Twitter CEOs and Parler were at odds on Saturday, each posting on their own network about Apple’s decision to ban Parler.
- Jack Dorsey of Twitter posted a heart emoji above a screenshot of the App Store’s most popular downloads table, where Parler had been before the ban.
- “Yes, we were number one until the crowd of fake news on Twitter and its anti-competitive friends followed us,” said John Matze de Parler.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The chief executives of Parler and Twitter argued with each other on Saturday, when they each posted on their own network about Apple’s Parler ban.
After Apple banned Parler for not removing content that promoted violence, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a photo of the Top Charts on the App Store. Before the ban, Parler was the most downloaded application. On Saturday night, he was gone.
Dorsey added a heart emoji.
—Jack (@jack) January 10, 2021
At Parler, CEO John Matze responded by posting a screenshot of Dorsey’s tweet and adding his own comment.
“Yes, we were number one until the crowd of fake news on Twitter and its anti-competitive friends followed us,” wrote Matze. He added, “This is very cute.”
John Matze, CEO of Parler.
Fox News
Parler, who has become home to an increasing number of conservative and alternative right-wing voices, has been banned from app stores run by Apple and Google. Both companies said the app did not do enough to moderate incendiary conversations. “No change without bloodshed!” a user of Parler wrote when the crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
Google banned it on Friday, with Matze saying it was a “horrible way to deal with it”.
Apple followed through with its own ban on Saturday after giving the app a day to update its moderation efforts. “Parler has not taken adequate steps to deal with the proliferation of these threats to people’s security,” said Apple.
Read More: Parler must be taken seriously as a hotbed of extremism and conspiracy theories, shows new study
Earlier on Saturday, Matze posted about Apple’s ban, saying that Apple wanted him to implement “surveillance” policies.
“They claim it is due to the violence on the platform. The community disagrees, as we reached number 1 in their store today,” he wrote. He noted that “Hang Mike Pence” had become a trending topic on Twitter, before the network interrupted him.
“Showing Apple’s horrible double standard and its big technology package applies to the community,” said Matze.
At Parler, key users said banning it was a form of censorship.
“Apple and Google removed the Parler App. Welcome to political censorship! Spread the word so your American colleagues know about it,” wrote Representative Devin Nunes on Saturday night.
Congressman Ken Buck wrote that Congress needed to take action against Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple. “Big Tech abused its monopoly power and engaged in censorship,” he wrote.
Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, posted on Saturday a photo of himself with the caption: “The MAGA movement is not going anywhere. [President Trump] created the greatest political movement in American history. “
Like Twitter, Parler users can also join the network on the web. But Amazon is reportedly removing the company from its Amazon Web Services. The platform could go offline on Sunday night, unless it finds an alternative hosting platform, Matze said. You can stay offline for a week.
Matze said on Saturday that technology companies are working together to close Parler.
“We are the closest thing to competition that Facebook or Twitter has seen in many years. I believe that Amazon, Google, Apple worked together to try to ensure that there is no competition, ”he said.