In a letter sent to a Republican congressman and senator on April 19, said he hoped Parler would be able to return to the App Store following its initial ban in January, saying that "having more social networks out there is better than having less."
All of this started back on January 8, 2021, when Apple told Parler it had 24 hours to remove harmful and dangerous content from the platform that went against Apple's guidelines. When Parler failed to do this, it was de-listed from the App Store and made unavailable for iPhone s to . The months since then have been pretty bumpy for Parler, with the conservative-focused social media site temporarily going offline, changing CEOs, and there reportedly being talks of the Trump Organization making an ownership stake in the company.
Congressman Ken Buck and Senator Mike Lee sent a letter to Apple on March 31 asking for more information about why Parler was still unavailable from the App Store. On April 19, Apple replied and confirmed that "the App Review Team has informed Parler as of April 14, 2021, that its proposed updated app will be approved for reinstatement to the App Store." Furthermore, Apple says that it expects the app to "become available immediately" once Parler makes its submission. It's unclear when exactly that will happen, with a spokesperson speaking to TechCrunch saying that it's up to Parler to decide when to submit the new version of its app.
How Parler Will Be Different When It Returns To The App Store
As noted in Apple's letter, the Parler app is only reapproved for the App Store because it'll be an "updated" version of it. In the letter, Apple says, "In the period since Apple removed the Parler app from the App Store, Apple's App Review team has engaged in substantial conversations with Parler in an effort to bring the Parler app into compliance with the Guidelines and reinstate it in the App Store." While Apple doesn't outline any specifics of what these changes will look like, the company does note that "As a result of those conversations, Parler has proposed updates to its app and the app's content moderation practices."
Leading up to Parler's removal from the App Store, the application was actively being used to spread racist, violent, and other dangerous content without any moderation from Parler. Most notably, Parler was used by people to communicate and organize the attack on the U.S. Capitol that occurred on January 6, 2021. While the big draw to Parler is giving people a place to "speak freely" without the threat of being "deplatformed for your views," freely allowing hateful and harmful speech went directly against Apple's policies for the App Store.
Parler must have made substantial changes if Apple is giving it the OK to once again show up in the App Store, but it'll be worth following the app to see if it finds itself in hot water again. If Parler really does have extensive moderation tools and will use them to their full effectiveness, that could drive away a lot of s that previously used the app to spread the content that got it banned in the first place. If Parler lets up on that moderation as to not lose the audience it's cultivated, that could result in it getting banned once again. Whatever happens, it'll all be worth keeping an eye on.
Source: Ken Buck, TechCrunch