Parler tried to get back on the App Store last month, but Apple rejected its application, citing Nazi symbols and hate speech from users

Advertisement
Parler tried to get back on the App Store last month, but Apple rejected its application, citing Nazi symbols and hate speech from users
Parler is an app favored by Trump supporters, including those who stormed the Capitol Building in January.(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
  • Social media app Parler tried to get back onto the App Store last month, Bloomberg reports.
  • Apple rejected it, saying it was still home to Nazi symbols and hateful language.
  • Parler was taken off the App Store and the Google Play Store following the Capitol riots.
Advertisement

Apple has blocked an attempt by Parler, the social-media app popular with the far-right, to get back on the App Store, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Parler was removed from Apple's App Store in January shortly after the siege on the US Capitol Building by pro-Trump rioters. Google also removed the app from its Play Store.

Bloomberg reported that in late February, Apple rejected a bid by the app to get back onto the App Store. Apple said Parler's updated community guidelines reached the standards expected on the App Store, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

In the documents - which were also obtained by Input Magazine (warning: this link leads to a page that contains graphic images of racist, homophobic, and misogynistic hate speech) - Apple presented examples of Parler users displaying swastikas or other white-nationalist symbols as their profile pictures. Apple also included examples of users using misogynistic, homophobic, and racist language.

When contacted by Insider about the Bloomberg report, an Apple spokesperson referred to Input's coverage of the documents, saying "that contains details of our email to them [Parler]."

Advertisement

Read more: How Google finally decided to remove Parler after months of flagging the app's harmful content

"As you know, developers are required to implement robust moderation capabilities to proactively identify, prevent and filter this objectionable content to protect the health and safety of users," Apple wrote in a letter to Parler's policy chief, seen by Bloomberg.

"There is no place for hateful, racist, discriminatory content on the App Store," it added.

Bloomberg also reported that Parler cut its three remaining iOS developers on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In a statement to Insider, Parler's Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff said the company is still trying to get the app back onto the App Store.

Advertisement

"Parler expects and hopes to keep working with Apple to return to the App Store. We're optimistic that Apple will continue to differentiate itself from other 'Big Tech' companies by supporting its customers' choice to 'think different' - to exercise their constitutionally protected freedoms of thought, speech, and association - while using Apple products," she said.

She also said that Parler has added algorithmic filters and human reviewers to remove content that "threatens or incites violence," and said it has added a feature which allows users to filter out "personal attacks based on immutable and irrelevant characteristics such as race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion."

Parler was taken offline completely in January after its web host Amazon Web Services (AWS) severed ties with the app, saying it posed " a very real risk to public safety." It came back online on February 15 after finding new web host SkySilk.

{{}}