Apple will ax Parler app unless moderation plan submitted in 24 hours

 

(Screenshots from Buzzfeed and The Verge)

In an email sent this morning and shared on Buzzfeed, Apple wrote to Parler’s executives that there had been complaints that the service had been used to plan and coordinate the riots on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

"We have received numerous complaints regarding objectionable content in your Parler service, accusations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the illegal activities in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries, and the destruction of property. The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities.”

Apple said that “to ensure there is no interruption of the availability of your app on the App Store,” Parler was required to submit an update and a “requested moderation improvement plan within 24 hours of the date of the message,” which was sent on Friday morning. Apple said if it did not receive an update from the company within that time frame, the app would be removed from the App store.

The  Verge reported that Apple and Google Play have been called out on TOS and asked to deplatform Parler over content inciting violence.

3:21: Right after I posted, this Twitter post claims the app was rejected by Apple.

5: 11 : The Hill reported Google has suspended social media platform Parler from its app store while joining Apple in calling on the platform to tighten its content moderation rules or risk permanent removal. 

"In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content have moderation policies and enforcement that removes egregious content like spots that incite violence. All developers agree to these terms and we have reminded Parler of this clear policy in recent months."

"We recognize that there can be reasonable debate about content policies and that it can be difficult for apps to immediately remove all violative content, but for us to distribute an app through Google Play, we do require that apps implement robust moderation for egregious content."

In light of “this ongoing and urgent public safety threat,” Google is suspending Parler listings from the Play Store until it “addresses these issues.”