Apple again denied Parler access to the company’s App Store after the controversial conservative-attractive social media app was banned from the platform in January following the January 6 Capitol riot, according to documents cited by Bloomberg.
“After reviewing the new information, we do not believe these changes are sufficient to meet the App Store Review guidelines,” Apple wrote to Parler’s chief policy officer on Feb. 25, Bloomberg said. “There is no room for hateful, racist and discriminatory content in the App Store.”
Apple suspended Parler from its platform in January due to the app’s lack of moderation and the threat of violence. The app was also removed from Amazon’s web hosting services that same month.
Apple and Amazon gave Parler the opportunity to change its content moderation policy. But on February 15th, Parler was relaunched, this time on its own platform, which allowed it to bypass moderation rules.
With its launch, the app introduced new community guidelines, but they were not sufficient for the App Store’s regulations – namely, because of “easily identifiable” derogatory terms and symbols on the platform.
“In fact, simple searches reveal highly offensive content, including easily identifiable offensive use of derogatory terms related to race, religion, and sexual orientation, as well as Nazi symbols,” Apple wrote in a letter to Parler, Bloomberg said. “For these reasons, your app cannot be returned to the App Store for distribution until it meets the guidelines.”
On Wednesday, Parler reportedly dropped three of its remaining iOS developers, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the case. In total, the company removed seven employees, the majority of whom were contractors, while other employees worked on Parler TV and quality assurance.
Parler’s Community Guidelines were written by Chief Policy Amy Peikoff, Bloomberg reported quoting two people who were familiar with the matter.
Parler grew in popularity among conservative users following the 2020 presidential election and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, profiling himself as a pro-free speech platform following steps taken by Twitter to block certain users, including former President Trump
Donald Trump Manhattan prosecutors intensify investigation of Trump’s New York estate: report GOP leaders reiterate commitment to work with Trump amid back and forth Top Republicans seek to allay concerns about Trump’s funding needs ., who banned him permanently.
Apple and Parler did not immediately respond to requests for comment.