- The CEOs of Twitter and Parler were at odds with each other on Saturday and each posted on their own network about Apple’s decision to ban Parler.
- Twitter Dor Jack Jack placed a heart emoji above a screenshot of the App Store’s top download card, where Parler was ahead of the ban.
- “Yes, we were number one until the fake news rage crowd on Twitter and your rival friends chased us,” said John Matze of Parler.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The CEOs of Parler and Twitter were at odds with each other on Saturday, as each posted on their own network about Apple’s ban on Parler.
After Apple banned Parler for not removing content that promotes violence, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a photo of the top cards in the App Store. Prior to the ban, Parler was the program most downloaded. Saturday night it was gone.
Dorsey added a heart emoji.
—Jack (@jack) 10 January 2021
On Parler, CEO John Matze responded by posting a screenshot of Dorsey’s tweet and adding his own comments.
“Yes, we were number one until the hoax news crowd on Twitter and your rival opponents chased us,” Matze wrote. He added: “It’s really cute.”
Parler, CEO, John Matze.
Fox News
Parler, which has become home to a growing number of conservative and all-right votes, has been banned from the app stores operated by both Apple and Google. Both companies said the app did not do enough to moderate fuel talk. “No change without bloodshed!” A Parler user wrote when the crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
Google banned it late Friday, and Matze said it was a “horrible way to handle it”.
Apple follows with its own ban on Saturday, after the app gave a day to update its moderation efforts. “Parler has not taken sufficient measures to address the spread of these threats to human safety,” Apple said.
Read more: Parler should be taken seriously as a focus of extremism and conspiracy theories, a new study shows
Earlier on Saturday, Matze reported on Apple’s ban and said Apple wanted it to implement “surveillance” policies.
“They claim it is due to violence on the platform. The community does not agree as we reached number 1 in their store today,” he wrote. He noted that ‘Hang Mike Pence’ became an important topic on Twitter before the network stopped it.
“The terrible double standard of Apple and their huge technology package applies to the community,” Matze said.
On Parler, prominent users said it was a form of censorship to ban.
“Apple and Google have now removed the Parler app. Welcome to political censorship! Spread the word so your fellow Americans know about this,” said Rep. Devin Nunes wrote late Saturday night.
Rep. Ken Buck wrote that Congress should take action against Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple. “Big Tech abused its monopolistic power and exercised censorship,” he wrote.
President Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump posted a photo of himself on Saturday with the caption: ‘The MAGA movement is not going anywhere. [President Trump] created the largest political movement in American history. ‘
Like Twitter, Parler users can also log on to the Internet. But Amazon is apparently removing the company from its Amazon Web Services. The platform could go offline Sunday night unless it can find an alternative hosting platform, Matze said. It might be a week offline.
Matze said Saturday the tech companies are working together to close Parler.
“We’re the closest thing to competition that Facebook or Twitter have seen in many years. I believe Amazon, Google, Apple have worked together to ensure they have no competition,” he said.