Apple CEO Tim Cook posts on popular social platform Parler app represent “incitement to violence” warranted its removal from the App Store.
In a Fox News Sunday interview, Cook told anchor Chris Wallace that Apple looked at the incitement to violence that was there…..we don’t consider that free speech.
When asked to Wallace whether Apple’s booting of Parler, which had become popular among Trump supporters as an alternative to Twitter and Fb, will only serve to drive the app’s users “underground,” Cook answered to this question- “Well, we’ve only suspended them, Chris. And so, if they get their moderation together, they would be back on there.”
For now, Parler’s return is plausible as Cook had told the press that the messaging app would be back in store after some moderations.
On Saturday Apple kicked off Parler from the Apple store, suspecting threats to illegal activity and violence following outrage on Capitol.
On Sunday, Amazon too pulled Parler’s hosting service, e-commerce giant citing examples of violent threat.
On this Parler sued Amazon for helping the rival company Twitter and for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. On 12 Amazon said that this case is not about suppressing speech or viewpoints but rather about Parler’s unwillingness to remove such contents that threaten public safety.
In the “Fox News Sunday” interview, Wallace challenged Cook, asked the Apple CEO, “Isn’t Big Tech restricting free speech?”
Cook replied, “We have an app store that has about 2 million apps in it. And we have terms of services for these apps. We obviously don’t control what’s on the internet, but we’ve never viewed that our platform should be a simple replication of the internet. We have rules and regulations, and we just ask that people abide by those.
Parler users participated in the riot on the US Capitol. After the app went down one user has launched an interactive online map using GPS metadata that were posted on Parler during the attack.
