Apple’s threat to kick Parler off the App Store may have backfired

UPDATE: Jan. 9, 2021, 7:50 p.m. EST Apple announced it has suspended Parler. In a statement provided to Mashable, the company wrote: “We have always supported diverse points of view being represented on the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity. Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people’s safety. We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues.”

When it comes to the App Store, any publicity does indeed appear to be good publicity. 

Less than 24 hours after Apple threatened to remove Parler from its App Store, the social media app favored by conservatives for its lax content-moderation policies shot to the top of the download charts. Saturday afternoon, mere hours before the reported deadline was set to expire, the previously fringe alternative to Twitter had been infused with new life. 

Parler suddenly found itself listed as the number one free app in the App Store — a ranking undoubtedly, at least in part, thanks to Apple’s threatened ban as people rushed to download the app ahead of any possible removal. 

Apple followed through on Saturday evening, suspending the app because “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of … threats to people’s safety.” But during the roughly day-long reprieve the app had before it’s removal, a whole lot more users jumped aboard. 

Image: screenshot / app store

This seemingly arbitrary 24-hour window stands in stark contrast to action taken by Google against Parler. The Mountain View-based tech giant went ahead and straight up removed Parler from the Google Play store Friday without first giving a very public heads up. 

Importantly, the reasons for Google’s removal and Apple’s threatened removal are very much the same. Both companies expressed concerns about the app’s lack of content moderation following the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol building by pro-Trump extremists — some of whom discussed their plans ahead of the event on the internet.

Apple, however, offered Parler time to get its act together. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple said that “in order for Parler to remain available in the App Store, it had to provide detailed information about its content-moderation plans and how it would improve moderation and content filtering in the future.”

Which, hey, if that works out, great. 

SEE ALSO: Twitter permanently suspends @TeamTrump after string of Trump tweets

We reached out to both Apple and Parler to confirm these reports, but received no immediate response from either. 

In the meantime, the App Store downloads keep stacking up.