Right-wing social media app Parler was kicked back to the Google Play Store after the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Google banned the app for posts that incited violence, saying it lacked content moderation. It now says the audit has been improved and meets its requirements.
“As we have long said, apps can appear on Google Play as long as they comply with Play’s developer policies,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “All apps featuring user-generated content (UGC) on Google Play must implement robust moderation practices, ban objectionable content, provide an in-app system for reporting objectionable UGC, where appropriate Take action on this UGC and remove or block users who abuse the app’s terms of use and/or user policies.”
Following the Capitol riots, tech companies quickly removed the Parler app from their removed from the platform because of evidence that it was used to call for violence and plan attacks. The Parler website, hosted through Amazon Web Services, was also removed, taking the social media site completely offline. A month later, Parler found a new web host . The app returned to the Apple App Store last May .
The news about Parler’s return to Google Play comes on the heels of a speech by US President Joe Biden calling on Americans to “reject political violence with all the moral clarity and conviction this country can muster.” Posted in two days.
News also comes that another right-wing social media platform, Truth Social, is trying to restore to Google Play. Truth Social, which is owned by the Trump Media and Technology Group, failed to get approval last month, and Google said the company needed to get better at moderating content. Google said that Truth Social is working to address its concerns.
Parler could return to the Google Play Store as early as Friday, according to CNN.
Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company told CNN it has been “continuously” upgrading its systems in recent months.
