Google suspends Parler app from Play Store, Apple gives 24-hour warning after Capitol siege

After the siege at the US Capitol on Wednesday that led to indefinite bans on outgoing US President Donald Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, Google on Friday said it has pulled the Parler app from its mobile story for allowing “egregious content” that could incite deadly violence.

Apple Inc also gave the social network a 24 hours notice to submit a detailed moderation plan while it pointed out that several participants used Parler to coordinate the siege of the US Capitol building on January 6. 

Parler has become a have for far-right personalities, who say they have been censored by other social media platforms, reports AFP.

“We’re aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US,” Google said, AFP reports.

“For us to distribute an app through Google Play, we do require that apps implement robust moderation for egregious content,” the tech giant added.

Google said policies and enforcement practices that curb posts inciting violence are agreed to by app developers whose software is made available at Google Play. 

The company said it is suspending the app’s listing from the Play Store in the wake of this “ongoing and urgent public safety threat,” until Parler addresses these issues.

Conservatives, who back Trump‘s claims of election fraud, have moved to alternative social media sites, which have refrained from filtered unverified claims, including Parler, Newsmax, and Rumble that have rejected Facebook and Twitter’s approach of labeling and limiting the reach of conspiracy theories.

This comes after Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Twitter were banned amid fear that he would use them to instigate another attack like that one on Wednesday.