Last Monday, tech conglomerate Apple wrote a letter to Republicans of the House and Senate stating that the right-leaning social media app Parler will return to the App Store after being removed due to a content guidelines violation.
This letter was in response to another letter written by GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah and House Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado requesting clarification on the actions that led to the removal of Parler, according to The Daily Wire.
The letter, written by the lawmakers on March 31 stated:
“In just three days, Apple and Google effectively cut off Parler’s primary distribution channel, and Amazon cut off Parler’s access to critical computing services, leaving the company completely unable to serve its 15 million users. These actions were against a company that is not alleged to have violated any law. In fact, information provided by Parler to the House Oversight Committee revealed that Parler was assisting law enforcement even in advance of January 6th.”
After its removal, Parler was then forced to acquire new servers to continue operating to its 15 million users.
On Monday April 19, the lawmakers received a response from Timothy Powderly, Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Americas at Apple.
Apple’s letter answers some of the questions that the lawmakers had about the removal.
In the letter, Apple stated that it “wants to provide a safe experience for users to get apps and a great opportunity for all developers to be successful. Apple does this in part by curating the App Store, including by reviewing apps to ensure compliance with all App Store Review Guidelines, which among other things set for standards for privacy safety, security, and performance of apps in the App Store.”
Common ground
Regarding Parler, Apple stated that it had “in the past communicated with Parler regarding failures in its content moderation efforts, as well as its desire stated at various times to not moderate content at all.”
Before the removal of the app, Apple told Parler to remove specific content located in the app, and to respond back in 24 hours.
Apple then states that Parler “did not communicate a sufficient plan to improve its moderation of user-generated content in the app,” which resulted in its termination from the App Store.
Due to Apple and Parler finding common ground in regards to their content restriction policies, Parler is now able to return to the App Store.
Apple then goes on to state that the new Parler app will be released on the App Store as soon as Parler releases it.
