Parler, the controversial conservative social media app, was denied re-entry to Apple’s App Store recently after it was kicked off the platform in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, documents obtained by Bloomberg show.
On Wednesday, Parler cut its three remaining iOS developers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company eliminated seven workers in total, most of whom were contractors. The other staff worked on Parler TV and quality assurance, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
When it initially removed Parler from the App Store in January, Apple asked the social network to change its moderation practices. Apple said that Parler’s new community guidelines, released when the service came back online Febraury 15, were insufficient to comply with the App Store rules.
“After having reviewed the new information, we do not believe these changes are sufficient to comply with App Store Review guidelines” Apple wrote to Parler’s chief policy officer on Febraury 25. “There is no place for hateful, racist, discriminatory content on the App Store.”
Apple included several screenshots to support the rejection. Some screenshots, reviewed by Bloomberg, show user profile pictures with swastikas and other white nationalist imagery, and user names and posts that are misogynistic, homophobic, and racist.
“As you know, developers are required to implement robust moderation capabilities to proactively identify, prevent…
