Apple threatening to ban Parler from App Store: report

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Parler CEO: Idea behind app is free speech, privacy and data sovereignty

Parler CEO John Matze is the Power Player of the Week on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

Tech giant Apple may ban Parler  – a platform founded to promote free speech that has a large user base of Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists – from its app store, which could be related to how it handled the rioting on Capitol Hill this week.

Sean Davis, a co-founder for conservative outlet The Federalist, wrote on Twitter that Apple is asking Parler to engage in "censorship policies" or face delisting, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Multiple outlets reported earlier this week that both Apple and Google were under pressure to remove the app, which did not take down posts threatening violence against elected officials – including Vice President Mike Pence.

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Spokespersons for Apple and Parler did not return Fox News’ requests for comment.

Parler, which was founded in 2018, was "built upon a foundation of respect for privacy and personal data, free speech, free markets, and ethical, transparent corporate policy."

Some conservatives – like Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rand Paul, R-Ky. – began turning to the platform this year after becoming frustrated with content moderation on the major platforms.

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Both Facebook and Twitter locked Trump’s account this week. While his Facebook page is expected to remain locked through President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, his Twitter feed was suspended on Friday night.

Major social media companies have come under increasing pressure – and scrutiny – for policing content on their websites, including adding fact-check labels to certain posts.

Some Democrats believe the companies need to do more to monitor content posted by users. Former First Lady Michelle Obama, for example, put out a statement following the raid on Capitol Hill this week saying that Silicon Valley needed to do more to prevent this type of "monstrous behavior."

Republicans, on the other hand, have alleged that social media companies engage in their content moderation policies with an anti-conservative bias.