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- Apple has banned the social media app Parler from the App Store for failing to remove content that promotes violence.
- “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people’s safety,” Apple said in a statement.
- The move comes one day after Google banned the fast-growing app from its store for similar reasons.
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Apple has banned the fast-growing social media app Parler from its App Store for failing to remove content that promoted violence, The New York Times reported.
“We have always supported diverse points of view being represented on the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” Apple said in a statement provided to The Times. “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people’s safety.”
Parler became popular in recent months among supporters of President Donald Trump and members of the far right due to its lack of moderation. The platform was used by some to plan the deadly siege on the US Capitol this week.
Apple’s ban comes one day after Google banned the app from its Play Store, citing similar reasons, Insider’s Tyler Sonnemaker reported.
"We're aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US. 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," a Google spokesperson told Insider.
The bans make Parler unavailable in the app stores run by Apple and Google. The app may still be able to be accessed through third-party app stores or mobile browsers.
After the Google ban, Parler CEO John Matze said on Friday that banning Parler was a "horrible way to handle this."
"Guess they arnt [sic] really concerned about the 'violence' that is against our rules anyway," Matze posted on Parler. "If they actually cared, they would try to help. Not dump the app and send a break up public statement."
The Apple ban on Saturday came one day after the firm issued a warning to Parler, giving the platform 24 hours to address the issue.
Top conservative figures recently announced they would be moving to the Parler app after Trump was banned from Twitter on Friday.
Twitter said the president was banned for violating its policies around inciting violence.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the firm said in a tweet.