Parler will be re-launching on the App Store next week

The niche social media and messaging app Parler will be re-launching on the App Store the week of April 25, 2021, after making the necessary changes to be approved for a return.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS:

  • The Parler app is returning to the App Store the week of April 26, 2021.
  • This comes after several months of “productive dialogue” with Apple.
  • Developers have implemented various new moderation features.
  • New safeguards will remove hate speech from the iOS app.
  • Some posts that Parler allows will be accessible on the web.

Parler is returning to the App Store soon

The app’s return to the App Store the next week was confirmed in a media release distributed to the press. Billed as a haven for free speech, Parler will now block some posts in the iOS app to appease Apple’s censors but you can still access them via Parler’s web and Android apps.

According to the company’s interim CEO Mark Meckler, the new features in Parler will let the app better detect unlawful speech and allow users to filter content that’s “undesirable” to them.

Parler is also grateful for Senator Mike Lee’s and Congressman Ken Buck’s hard work and commitment to the open exchange of ideas in the free market. Their recent letter to Apple helped facilitate Parler’s re-launch on the App Store and has empowered Parler’s users to re-engage in the ability to freely express themselves and share ideas free of the viewpoint discrimination that they face on other platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Apple’s letter to the United States Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Ken Buck (R-CO) that Parler refers to has made it perfectly clear that the software would be returning to the App Store soon. “Apple anticipates that the updated Parler app will become available immediately upon Parler releasing it,” the Cupertino company noted in the letter.

The CEO also added the following on censorship:

Finally, Parler would like to thank its users for their patience as we worked to get this done. This company was started as a non-partisan and pro-First Amendment alternative to other social media platforms, and we will continue to allow our users to freely share ideas and expression, consistent with the protections of the First Amendment and without viewpoint censorship or determination.

Apple earlier this week confirmed that Parler would be re-launching on the App Store after submitting a version with improved moderation tools to detect hate speech better.

Parler was de-platformed by Big Tech due to hate speech and questionable content shared by far-right activists, with Apple and Google removing the software and Amazon Web Services refusing to host the app. The app became popular after social networks removed former President Donald Trump’s accounts over inciting Capitol riots of January 6.