Earlier this year, the Apple-owned App Store pulled Parler’s app from their store. Apple claimed that the free speech social media site failed to implement the appropriate content guidelines; this ruling came after the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol.
After a brief few weeks offline, Parler managed to get back on the internet; now, the social media site is looking to get its app back onto the App Store. However, this is proving to be easier said than done.
A new report from Washington Examiner claims that Apple is steadily shifting the goalposts on what criteria Parler must meet before being allowed back onto the App Store.
Jumping Through Hoops
According to Parler, whenever they come close to meeting Apple’s guidelines for returning to the App Store, the guidelines change.
For instance, in the very beginning, Apple stated that Parler needed to first do away with content that incited violence; however, since doing this, Parler is now being told that they need to also remove so-called “hate speech” from their platform before being allowed back on the App Store.
Parler Interim CEO Mark Meckler: "I’m pretty positive that we’ll be back on the Apple App Store pretty soon. In regard to Google.. we're not really interested in being back on Google. They’re not for Free Speech, they’re anti-Free Speech.” pic.twitter.com/u2PeENS4hz
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 17, 2021
“Hate speech” is subjective, for starters. Also, this significantly raises questions about what Apple constitutes as hate speech. Parler already took action to remove violence-inciting content by employing the services of a vendor that uses certain filters and algorithms to find the aforementioned content.
Parler also notes that despite the amount of hate speech on both Twitter and Facebook, neither of these sites has lost a spot on the App Store.
Crushing the Competition to Big Tech?
Time and time again, Parler has charged that penalities against their site are not about genuine content moderation concerns, but rather about crushing competition against big tech.
This makes sense on multiple counts. First and foremost, the standards to which Apple and Google hold Parler are not the same standards to which Twitter and Facebook are held. If the issue really revolved around incitement of violence, Facebook and Twitter would have been pulled from the App Store long ago.
The new CEO of @parler_app, @MarkMeckler, says the company is in talks with #Apple about allowing the app back onto the app store. #Parler #FreeSpeech #SocialMedia #VarneyCo pic.twitter.com/3NR89NjzRl
— Varney & Co. (@Varneyco) February 19, 2021
Neither of these sites is totally free from individuals posting disturbing content and yet, Apple is not calling upon Facebook and Twitter to clean up their content moderation policies. The explanations and reasons provided simply do not add up.
Do you believe that Apple is intentionally shifting the goalposts so that Parler can never get back up on the App Store? Let us know your take down below in the comments section.
