Parler is allowed back on Apple's app store after making changes to its 'content moderation practices' in wake of US Capitol riots
- The app was forced offline following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol
- A letter to Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Ken Buck confirms it can return to Apple
- The letter said: 'Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler releasing it'
Parler is coming back to Apple's app store after making changes to its 'content moderation practices'.
The app was forced offline following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
In February Parler had announced it was re-launching. Now a letter to Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Ken Buck confirms it can return to the iOS app store.
The Twitter alternative has been struggling to return online since Amazon stripped it of web-hosting service on January 11 over its unwillingness to remove posts inciting violence. Google and Apple removed Parler's app from their online stores for the same reason.
On April 14 the app is said to have made sufficient changes to be allowed back on Apple.
The letter, from Apple's senior director for government affairs, Timothy Powderly, said: 'Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler releasing it.'
Rep. Buck called it a 'huge win for free speech'.
Scroll down for the letter in full
Parler, the social network known as a conservative alternative to Twitter
The app was forced offline following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump
Guidelines accessible on the site, dated Febuary 14, said Parler would use technology and human review to remove 'threatening or inciting content.' They said a 'community jury' headed by a Parler employee would hear appeals.
For a time after Amazon dropped it, Parler received denial-of-service protection from a Russian-based outfit called DDoS-Guard.
That ended following revelations that DDoS-Guard had provided services to shady operations, including online forums popular with credit card thieves.
In a lawsuit seeking to force Amazon to restore its service, Parler's management claimed that Amazon aimed to deny Trump 'a platform on any large social-media service.'
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Following the news it will be allowed back on the app store congressman Ken Buck tweeted: ' On March 31, @SenMikeLee and I sent a letter demanding answers about why Apple removed Parler from the App Store.
'Today, we received a response: Parler will be reinstated on the App Store. Huge win for free speech..'
Senator Mike Lee added: ' @Apple has responded to my letter with @RepKenBuck, and now @Parler_App is back in the App Store.
'Conservative speech must not be silenced.'
In February Parler had announced it was re-launching. Now a letter to Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Ken Buck confirms it can return to the iOS app store
Senator Mike Lee added: ' @Apple has responded to my letter with @RepKenBuck, and now @Parler_App is back in the App Store. 'Conservative speech must not be silenced'
That followed Twitter's decision to permanently ban the former president from its service and similar indefinite bans by Facebook and Instagram.
Parler´s previous CEO, John Matze, says he was fired on January 29 by the Parler board, which is controlled by conservative donor Rebekah Mercer.
At the time, Matze told The New York Times that he'd told Mercer that Parler needed to consider preventing domestic terrorists, white supremacists and followers of QAnon, a baseless conspiracy theory, from posting on the platform.
Republican political donor Rebekah Mercer has confirmed she helped bankroll the site and has emerged in recent months as the network's shadow executive after Matze was ousted.
The two social media site claims 20 million users. Trump never established an account there, although Buzzfeed reported that he considered buying a stake in Parler while he was president.
On April 14 the app is said to have made sufficient changes to be allowed back on Apple. The letter said: 'Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler releasing it'
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