The far-right extremists, conservatives, and followers of Donald Trump-affiliated Parler app can now again be downloaded from the Google Play Store. After the US Capitol uprising, Parler, which marketed itself as a “free speech network,” was banned and taken off the Android app store in January [2021]. When the removal happened, a Google representative claimed that it was because the app lacked “moderation controls and enforcement that eliminate severe content like messages that promote violence.”
a Google representative stated “As we’ve previously mentioned, apps can be published on Google Play as long as they abide by the platform’s developer regulations. User-generated content (UGC)-supporting apps on Google Play are required to follow strict moderation policies that forbid objectionable content, offer an in-app system for reporting objectionable UGC, take appropriate action against that content, and block or remove abusive users who disobey the app’s terms of service and/or user policy.”
Parler’s app has undergone significant changes in order to abide by Google’s rules. According to Bloomberg and Axios, the apps’ creators put standards in place to control material and delete messages that incite violence, making it compatible with Google’s guidelines. People could still download Parler from the company’s website and use it even after it was suspended and removed from the Android app store.
After making changes to its AI-based moderation mechanism to hide information it labels as “hate,” Parler was allowed back into the iOS app store in May of this year. The “Truth Social” app by Donald Trump has not yet been released for Android, however it is currently available on the iOS store. According to reports, Google has not yet approved the app due to worries about its standards violations and insufficient moderation rules.
