Apple denied Parler’s re-entry into the company’s App Store after the controversial social media app that attracted conservatives was kicked off the platform in January following the January 6 Capitol riot, according to documents cited by Bloomberg.
“After reviewing the new information, we don’t believe these changes are sufficient to meet App Store Review guidelines,” Apple wrote to Parler’s policy director on Feb. 25, according to Bloomberg. “There’s no room in the App Store for hateful, racist and discriminatory content.”
Apple suspended Parler from its platform in January due to lack of moderation and threats of app violence. The app was also removed from Amazon’s web hosting services the same month.
Apple and Amazon gave Parler the opportunity to change its content moderation policy. But on February 15, Parler relaunched, this time on his own platform, allowing him to dodge moderation regulations.
With the launch, the app introduced new community guidelines, but these were not appropriate for App Store regulations, that is, due to “easily identifiable” derogatory symbols and terms on the platform.
“In fact, simple searches reveal highly unpleasant content, including easily identifiable offensive uses of derogatory terms regarding race, religion, and sexual orientation, as well as Nazi symbols,” Apple wrote to Parler in a letter, according to Bloomberg. “For these reasons, your app cannot be returned to the App Store for distribution until it meets the guidelines.”
On Wednesday, Parler reportedly downgraded three of its remaining iOS developers, Bloomberg reported, citing someone familiar with the matter. Overall, the company laid off seven workers, most of them contractors, while another staff worked at Parler TV and quality assurance.
Parler’s community guidelines were written by policy chief Amy Peikoff, according to Bloomberg, who cited two people familiar with the matter.
Parler rose in popularity among conservative users after the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 Capitol riot, marking itself as a free speech platform after Twitter moves to block certain users, including former ones. President Trump
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Apple and Parler did not immediately respond to requests for comment.