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Apple and Google Move to Ban Parler

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The Parler logo, a stylized 'P' and the word "Parler" in a unique, all-caps font.I don’t want to say “I told you so,” but… actually, yes, I love reveling in my own self-congratulatory praise. It is I, the humble Cassandra, with perfect foresight and no audience!

I kid, my name is actually Danielle, but I did predict the downfall of Parler due to their lack of moderation.

It was an easy prediction to make. It’s the same fate all of these so-called “free speech” networks suffer. Free speech isn’t allowing people to say whatever they want, it’s an environment with appropriate moderation to protect people so they can express actually held opinions. You couldn’t watch a debate if members of the audience were allowed to make constant bomb threats, or yell “fire” in the theater. Free speech is moderated speech, something we already know when we look at real-world examples.

After Trump incited a seditious coup attempt at the Capitol, Twitter, Facebook, and others banned him. He incited violence and treason, and even those networks, who have coddled him and other conservatives, couldn’t let it happen without challenge. However, Parler, whose only moderation policies seem to be “ban leftists” has accepted Trump and his violent followers with open arms. That’s a problem. The service has become a place where Trump’s followers are planning their next terrorist attack and are threatening members of congress and left-leaning people with violence.

Now, Google and Apple have acted. First, Apple gave Parler 24 hours to introduce a moderation policy and clean up the service or they’d remove the app from the App Store. Then Google simply kicked Parler off of Google Play.

UPDATE:

Apple has removed Parler from App Store listings. Some users report that they can still find the app if they click on the link on Parler’s website, however, my own testing does not show the app. However, users who have downloaded the app previously can still download it as of Saturday, 8:17PM, Eastern time.

Apple’s Ultimatum

Yesterday, Buzzfeed news was the first to report that an internal email showed Apple giving Parler just 24 hours to come up with and implement a moderation policy. It would be impossible to do so in such a short amount of time, but Apple’s acting quickly because, if they don’t, these people will have time to continue to plan their next attack.

“We have received numerous complaints regarding objectionable content in your Parler service, accusations that the Parler app was used to plan, coordinate, and facilitate the illegal activities in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 that led (among other things) to loss of life, numerous injuries, and the destruction of property. The app also appears to continue to be used to plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities.”

– From Apple’s leaked email to Parler

Apple provided twitter links showing screenshots from Parler. Many of the posts advocating for violence and terrorism had thousands of views. Others had over 100,000. The messages came from a variety of accounts, most of them verified accounts. That means they handed over their personally identifying information—including a photo of their identification—to Parler. This is exactly the kind of information the FBI is looking for, though Parler seems to be harboring their violent users.

https://twitter.com/DonellaTrump/status/1347260055410896897?s=20

Apple sent the email Friday morning, however, news of the impending ban didn’t break until late Friday. Parler’s CEO John Matze seemingly confirmed the threats, however, by sharing that Parler “will not cave.” Still, it has been over 24 hours since Apple supposedly emailed Parler, and the app is still available on the App Store.

Google’s Swift Action

Google didn’t even give Parler a chance. After all, apps could always come back to a service after changing their guidelines. There’s no reason to give people any additional time to download an app, as Apple has done.

But it’s not on Google Play.

Play Store screenshot showing a search for "Parler." Google has a headline, "Parler by Parler is not available on Google Play."

As users flock to Parler, the only social network that still allows Donald Trump, Google put their foot down and prevented the influx of new users. This could help stop the growth of the network and its spread of violence. It could help stop another terrorist attack.

Google’s official statement is below.

“In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content have moderation policies and enforcement that removes egregious content like posts that incite violence. All developers agree to these terms and we have reminded Parler of this clear policy in recent months. 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. In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app’s listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues.”

Bye, Parler!

Parler will still have a website that people can access from a browser. However, this isn’t as convenient for users as an app. Users simply aren’t going to want to use it as much. Without the Parler app on the App Store or Google Play, the service will have a hard time attracting new users. At the same time, many of its users may be arrested for insurrection and terrorism. That will drive down the willingness of existing users to continue using the service. As it becomes more toxic and an ideological bubble, the right-wing trolls that flocked there after being banned for violence, hate speech, and trolling elsewhere will find the service is boring with no one to antagonize.

This is likely the beginning of the end for Parler. Hopefully it’s also the beginning of the end for such widespread incivility.

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