Apple CEO Tim Cook
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Apple removed Parler, a popular app for Trump fans, from its iPhone App Store on Saturday.
Apple said posts on the pro-Trump social network related to the U.S. Capitol riot last week included calls for violence, which violates Apple’s rules against irrational content.
“We have always supported diverse views represented on the App Store, but there is no room on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” an Apple representative said in a statement. “Parler did not take sufficient steps to address these threats to human safety. We’ve removed Parler from the App Store to resolve these issues. “
Google removed Parler from its Android app store, Google Play, on Friday.
The removal of the app comes after the violence at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters on Wednesday that left five dead. The violence has updated calls for social media and technology companies to more closely model their platforms, especially when it comes to calls to incite violence.
Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump’s personal account on Friday because he felt Trump’s latest tweets provoked violence, while Facebook banned Trump from posting through the establishment later on. of the month.
Parler was launched in 2018, and emerged earlier this year as a pro-Trump alternative to Twitter with less content modeling. “We’re a community town square, an open town square, without censorship,” Parler CEO John Matze said in June. “If you can say it on New York Street, you can say it on Parler.”
Parler is still accessible through a web browser, previously identified by Apple as a way to reach iPhone users without the need for Apple approval.
Apple has not faced the same content approach challenges as companies such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It does not operate many platforms where users post or trade ideas.
But Apple has control over its App Store, which is the only way to install apps on an iPhone. Apple regularly removes apps to go against its long lead, and previously banned apps that were popular with right-handed users, including the Infowars app in 2018, and before that, Qdrops, an app related to Qanon’s conspiracy theory.
In a message sent to Parler Saturday, Apple said the social media app was moderately failing and removing content that encourages illegal activity, citing two Apple guidelines, one banning unreasonable content and one that requires apps with user-generated content to filter out. potentially harmful posts.
“Parler has not kept its promise to measure and remove harmful or dangerous content inciting violence and illegal activity, and is not in line with the App Store Review Guidelines,” it said. according to Apple ‘s message.
A previous message from Apple posted on Friday, reported by Buzzfeed, and partially posted by CEO Parler on his account, prompted a tweet from the Sleeping Giants campaign group with screenshots of the Parler app, which introducing one where a user called his followers to attend the inauguration “carrying our weapons.” Apple gave Parler 24 hours to add content modeling to his app or Apple would remove it.
Parler did not immediately return a request for comment Friday. “Apparently any consumer who buys an Apple phone. Apparently they know what works best for you by telling you which apps you can and can’t use,” he said. Matze, its CEO in a post on Parler.