Apple chief Tim Cook said reports on the right-wing social app Parler were “incitement to violence” justifying the removal from the App Store.
In an interview on Fox Broadcasting’s “Fox News Sunday” this Sunday (January 17), Cook told anchor Chris Wallace that Apple ‘looked at the incitement to violence that was there and … we do not consider it free speech. ”
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Asked by Wallace whether Apple’s launch of Parler, which became popular with Trump loyalists as an alternative to Twitter and Facebook, would only lead to users of the app ‘underground’, Cook replied: ‘Well, we just suspended them, Chris. And if they get their moderation together, they will be there again. ”
For now, Parler’s return to any Internet platform seems highly unlikely.
On Saturday, Apple launched Parler from its app store, citing threats of violence and illegal activity in the app, which comes after the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol. “Parler has not taken sufficient measures to address the spread of these threats to human safety,” Apple said on January 9. Google took the same action the day before to delist Parler’s Android app.
On Sunday, Amazon’s AWS division pulled Parler’s hosting services, with the e-commerce giant citing nearly 100 examples of violent threats on Parler.
Parler sued Amazon on Monday (complaint at this link) alleging that Amazon violated its contract and violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by allegedly collaborating with Twitter to shut down the app. Amazon said in a court battle on January 12 (at this link): ‘This case is not about the suppression of speech or the weakening of views. It’s not about a conspiracy to restrict trade, ” ” In this case, it’s about Parler’s unwillingness and inability to remove content from Amazon Web Services (‘AWS’) servers that threatens public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture and assassination of nominated public officials and private citizens. ”
In an interview with Reuters this week, Parler CEO John Matze admitted that the app may never come online again, saying: “It’s hard to keep track of how many people tell us we can no longer work with them. do not do business. “
Before the app went dark, Matze, who once worked briefly for Amazon’s AWS division, complained in reports in the app that tech companies had conspired to blacklist Parler, and he called ‘politically motivated companies and the authoritarians who hate freedom of speech ‘. Matze also claims: “Most people on Parler are non-violent people who want to share their opinions, food photos and more.”
In the Fox Fox Sunday interview, Wallace challenged Cook and asked the CEO of Apple, “Doesn’t Big Tech restrict freedom of speech?” Cook replied, ‘We have an app store with about 2 million apps. And we have terms of service for these programs. Of course, we do not control what is on the Internet, but we have never seen our platform be a simple version of the Internet. We have rules and regulations, and we’re just asking people to stick to them. ”(Watch clips of the interview here and here.)
A number of Parler users took part in the assault on the American Capitol. After disabling the app, one developer launched an interactive online map using GPS metadata and about 50 videos posted during the attack on Parler, Motherboard reported.
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