After a five months ban, Parler app is now back on the iOS App Store. The free speech app is allowed back on Apple’s digital marketplace after implementing a new artificial intelligence moderation system on the platform.
On Jan 9, Apple removed the Parler app from the App Store after the unfortunate and violent storming of Capitol Hill on Jan 6. It is found that the perpetrators had used the platform to plan and organize the attack. Prior to the ban, Apple gave the developer 24 hours to implement a moderation mechanism to regulate the platform but at that time, Parler CEO, John Matze refused to do so.
Only on iOS, the Parler app has returned with a new moderation system to control hate speech
Parler is a free-speech app used to have community discussions on politics, sports, entertainment, and other news. It is also used to share pictures and videos. As the platform does not have a moderation system, the app is mostly used by conservatives with radical opinions which are violent and derogatory in nature. And the app’s hate content came in limelight after the Capitol Hill attack. But now that has changed on iOS.
The Washington Post reports that only for App Store, Parler app is now cracking down on hate speech.
Posts that are labeled “hate” by Parler’s new artificial intelligence moderation system won’t be visible on iPhones or iPads. There’s a different standard for people who look at Parler on other smartphones or on the Web: They will be able to see posts marked as “hate,” which includes racial slurs, by clicking through to see them.
Parler has resisted placing limits on what appears on its social network, and its leaders have equated blocking hate speech to totalitarian censorship, according to Amy Peikoff, chief policy officer. But Peikoff, who leads Parler’s content moderation, says she recognizes the importance of the Apple relationship to Parler’s future and seeks to find common ground between them.
“At Parler we embrace the entire First Amendment meaning freedom of expression and conscience are protected,” Peikoff said. “We permit a maximum amount of legally protected speech.”
Earlier, in an interview in Sway, Kara Swisher’s podcast for The New York Times, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed that the Parler app could come back to the App Store “if they fix their content moderation issue.” Therefore, the social media app has only changed its policy for Apple and is the same as before on other platforms. “Peikoff added that the version on iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, could be called “Parler Lite or Parler PG.”
With an updated logo and color theme, the app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. It is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and requires iOS 11.0 or later.
