Apple and Google are facing new pressure to weaken Parler, a social network, as a less moderate and more conservative friendly alternative to Facebook and Twitter. The activist group Sleeping Giants called on both companies to ban Parler from their app stores in response to posts calling for violence against elected officials.
As evidence, the group posted screenshots of Parler posts asking Vice President Mike Pence to face a firing squad and urging ‘American Patriots’ to ‘return to the capital’ with us on 19 January arms. ‘
The group points out that both Google and Apple have clear rules against violent threats and content moderation. Apple’s App Store says apps must “have a method of filtering offensive material from being posted” and “a mechanism for reporting offensive content.” Google’s Play Store blocks programs that ‘portray or facilitate unjustified violence or other dangerous activity’, and that ‘we do not allow programs that contain or facilitate threats, harassment or bullying.’
Neither Apple nor Google responded to requests for comment The edge. Parler also did not respond to a request for comment.
Parler saw his numbers skyrocket after Twitter and Facebook sharpened their moderation, with conservative protesters finding a home among like-minded users. In a Thursday interview with Kara Swisher about the Swing Podler’s CEO John Matze said all reports on the website indicating that riots were “illegally organized and against the law” would be removed. “But I do not feel responsible for this, nor the platform, as we are a neutral city square that only complies with the law,” he said.
The “Stop the Steal” campaign, which disputes President Trump’s loss, has gained momentum among Parler users in particular, as well as other conspiracy theories surrounding the election unleashed elsewhere. In the aftermath of the Capitol attack, researchers circulated dozens of reports on Parler encouraging violence which led to the attack on the Capitol. Chloroform. Mufflers. SHARP knives and keep walking, ”reads the one,“ take zippers with you, sneak up on them like ninjas and zip up their hands and feet, ”reads another, to which someone replies:” around their neck, do not get it in time, they die. ”
The site had posts from Trump supporters Thursday night questioned whether his concession speech was a profound falsification.
There are some precedents for removing an app for presenting violent content. After a gunman killed eleven people in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, PayPal banned the social network Gab from its platform when it came to light that suspect Robert Bowers had placed anti-Semitic acts on Gab before the shooting. . Apple rejected Gab’s application to appear in the App Store in 2016, and Twitter removed Gab’s access to its API. Google removed the app from the Google Play Store in 2017 for violating its hate speech policies.
As Apple and Google control the largest smartphone operating systems, the companies have great power over the distribution of mobile applications. The inability to print its app on the two largest app stores has significantly reduced Gab’s reach, forcing users to find solutions to use it on mobile sites. Gab’s desktop site, however, appears to be alive, with a new message from President Trump singing the ‘great American patriots who voted for me’, which led the ‘hot’ messages on Friday morning.
Both Twitter and Facebook have implemented temporary bans on President Trump’s accounts, which would likely cause recent statements as violence. Earlier in the campaign, the platforms adopted strict policies against misinformation and voting.
In a report on Parler Thursday, Matze criticized Facebook and Twitter for their actions against the president’s posts. ‘It’s clear that Facebook and Twitter believe that the purpose justifies the means. They believe that the American people are weak. They insult our founding members by introducing Zuckerburg [sic] and Dorsey knows what is best for us, ”he wrote. Parler is not an arbitrator of the truth. We believe in you. We believe that you are wise enough to decide for yourself and trust that we can access all information that we can manage ourselves. ”