Parler, the controversial conservative social media app, was denied re-entry to Apple Inc.’s App Store recently after it was kicked off the platform in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, documents obtained by Bloomberg show.
On Wednesday, Parler LLC 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.
"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 Feb. 25. "There is no place for hateful, racist, discriminatory content on the App Store.”
Apple said that Parler’s new community guidelines, released when the service came back online Feb. 15, were insufficient to comply with the App store rules.
Apple wrote to Parler in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. "For these reasons, your app cannot be returned to the App Store for distribution until it complies with the guidelines.”
Parler’s community guidelines were written by Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff, according to two people familiar with the matter. Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Parler went offline following the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Amazon Web Services cut ties with Parler, and Google and Apple removed Parler from their mobile app stores.
The Parler website relaunched in February with support from cloud hosting company SkySilk Inc.
