Tim Cook Will Allow Parler’s App Store Return With Compliance

Social media app Parler can return to the App Store if it complies with Apple’s terms of service, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Wednesday (Jan. 13).

The social network, which is favored by conservatives, was kicked off the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. Amazon, in turn, tossed Parler from its cloud hosting service, taking the Parler website offline. The three tech giants suspended the startup over the weekend for allegedly allowing content that supports violence, racism and genocide.

“They need to step it up on the moderation,” Cook said, noting that Parler had some issues with inappropriate content and “incitements to violence.”

“We suspended them, we did not ban them,” Cook added. “We have terms of service for our App Store, and some of those terms of service he’s in violation of. All we’re asking is he meet the terms of service.” Once the startup addresses those issues, it can “get back on the store.”

Launched two years ago in Nevada by John Matze, who serves as Parler’s CEO, and unnamed University of Denver graduates, the startup had positioned itself as a right-wing alternative to Twitter after the social network pulled President Donald Trump’s account.

Matze filed a lawsuit against Amazon Monday (Jan. 11) in Seattle federal court in response to being removed from the tech giant’s web services unit. In response to the lawsuit, Amazon said it had sent Parler almost 100 examples of content on its site that encouraged violence.

In an email to PYMNTS last week, Amazon said, “It is clear that there is significant content on Parler that encourages and incites violence against others, and that Parler is unable or unwilling to promptly identify and remove this content, which is a violation of our terms of service.”