Parler Banned: Google Play Store Shuts Down Free Speech App, Will Apple Follow Suit?

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 09 January 2021, 11:01 am

Google has suspended the social network app Parler from its Google Play Store over the app's failure to remove its egregious content. The free speech network prides itself for its unbiased social media content and has given even the popular people a platform.

Parler gets shut down by Google

Google stated that the reason they banned the platform is because it failed to remove posts inciting violence. Aside from Google, Apple also warned Parler that it will remove the app from its App Store if it does not comply with its content-moderation requirements, according to Buzzfeed News.

John Matze, the chief executive of Parler, said that they won't cave to politically motivated companies and to authoritarians who hate free speech.

Also Read: What is Parler? Social Media Users Leave Facebook and Twitter to Join New Platform

Parler was launched in 2018 and has since proved very popular among non-Twitter users and those that have been banned on Twitter and other platforms for voicing their opinion on certain social issues. Such groups have accused Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites of unfairly censoring their views.

The platform has several high-profile members who signed up in 2020. One of them is Texas Senator Ted Cruz who has 4.9 million followers on the platform. Meanwhile, Fox News host Sean Hannity has 7 million followers.

Parler because the most-downloaded app in the United States for a while after the election as both Apple and Google have policed the posts on social media sites that are downloaded on their software, according to BBC.

Apple's ultimatum

According to Buzzfeed, Apple told Parler executive in a letter that the site has received numerous complaints regarding the content of the platform and that many accused the platform as a way that people plan, coordinate, and facilitate illegal activities.

Apple added that Parler is required to submit a moderation improvement plan within 24 hours of the date of the message, which was the morning of January 8, 2021, according to Deadline.

What is Parler?

Parler is a Twitter-style social media platform that is built around a newsfeed of accounts that you can choose to follow, and users can upload images aside from creating posts of up to 1,000 characters, while Twitter only allows 280. Parler is available in the web and it also has an app that is available in both Android and iOS.

The platform takes its name from the French verb parler, meaning to speak or to talk. If the posts on Twitter are called tweets, the posts on Parler are called parleys.

So what makes it different from Twitter? Parler planted its political stake since day one. The service describes itself as non-biased, free speech social media that is focused on protecting the rights of the users. This has attracted millions of people who got banned on Twitter and those who got censored on Facebook.

One of the high-profile celebrities that Twitter has banned is Alex Jones, who got his account suspended in 2018 after he broke the anti-harassment rules of the platform. Last year, both Twitter and Facebook banned individuals and groups that post conspiracy theories about the election, the COVID-19 pandemic and other social issues.