This photo shows the logo of Parler’s social media application displayed on a smartphone with the website in the background on July 2, 2020. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP via Getty Images)
TO Newsroom
UPDATED at 6:57 AM PT – Saturday, January 9, 2021
A social networking service known as Parler is under tremendous pressure from major tech companies to bolster its content moderation policies.
On Friday, Google and Apple both suspended Parler from their app stores, as some of the political messages on the platform incite violence and need to be regulated. A Google spokesperson said the suspension will remain in effect until developers submit a detailed content moderation plan and resolve what it called a “ threat to public safety. ”
The company noted that the measure will not affect Parler’s availability on the Internet, nor will it remove the app from existing users’ devices.
Meanwhile, Apple has taken a more aggressive approach by giving Parler 24 hours to improve content moderation or be removed from the app store indefinitely.
Now Apple and Google are threatening to ban Parler from preventing people from moving to an alternative platform.
They create a monopoly. They DO NOT want IDEAS or CONVERSATIONS they cannot control.
They don’t want conservatives to communicate with each other.
– Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 9, 2021
Although founded in 2018, Parler has recently made a name for itself as the social media alternative for those banned from or silenced on the major social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Parler isn’t a “right-wing” app, it just protects freedom of speech. It is position neutral.
That’s what our digital overlords are so concerned about: free speech. Democrats cannot allow a place to share ideas without their thumbs on the scale.
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 withdraw someone’s vote because we don’t agree with what they’re saying,” said Professor Monica Stephens of the University at Buffalo.
Despite the threats, Parler CEO John Matze holds his own and assures that he will not comply with Apple and Google’s demands. He then accused the companies of applying standards to Parler that they don’t apply to their own services.
He added that America “is already lost if speech has to be restricted or censored to keep the country safe.”