Apple has officially announced the suspension of the Parler social media application from its App Store, following a similar action taken by Google, which removed it from the Google Play Store. The application had gained popularity among supporters of Donald Trump and numerous prominent conservative figures in the period immediately before the events at the Capitol, but was found to be operating contrary to Apple's established guidelines.

The company communicated the following information to TechCrunch:

Following this decision, Apple transmitted the subsequent message to Parler’s development team:

Dan Bongino, a conservative commentator and investor in Parler, shared his reaction to Apple’s decision on the platform itself:

Mr. Bongino, who was recently barred from Twitter, indicated he has no plans to rejoin that service.

Although Parler is presently unavailable for download through the app store, individuals who previously installed it should still be able to access it. As reported by The New York Times earlier this week,

However, the long-term viability of Parler is questionable, with increasing internal discussion within Amazon regarding potentially terminating its services to Parler as well.

This development occurred shortly after Google’s removal of the app from Google Play. The application, which attracted a user base of Trump supporters and several well-known conservatives leading up to the Capitol riots, was operating in breach of Apple’s regulations, it is understood. Apple’s App Store guidelines mandate that applications featuring user-generated content implement moderation policies to eliminate content that promotes violence.

Despite these established policies, both Apple and Google refrained from taking action against Parler in the preceding weeks, despite the app being utilized by Trump supporters and other far-right individuals to advocate for violence and coordinate plans to breach the Capitol. The resulting unrest resulted in five fatalities, injuries to over 50 law enforcement officers, and more than a dozen individuals facing federal charges, alongside the growing number of arrests as suspects are identified.

Apple’s official notice stated:

(TechCrunch independently verified the accuracy of BuzzFeed’s reporting.)

Parler CEO John Matze addressed Apple’s ultimatum on his own Parler account, stating he would not yield to “those authoritarians who hate free speech.” Earlier in the day, it was reported that the service had removed a post from Lin Wood, an associate of Donald Trump, due to calls for violence against Vice President Mike Pence.

Prior to its removal, Parler held the No. 1 position in the News category on the iPhone App Store and ranked No. 13 overall, according to data from App Annie. On Friday, it briefly reached as high as No. 1 on the iPhone’s Top Charts for free, non-game applications, although complete data was not yet available.

The concerted efforts of employees within technology companies are playing a significant role in some of the decisions concerning access to platforms for Donald Trump and his supporters to communicate and organize in the aftermath of the Capitol riots. According to The Washington Post, more than 350 Twitter employees signed a letter urging CEO Jack Dorsey and other executives to permanently suspend Donald Trump’s account, which the company subsequently did.

Donald Trump has now lost the ability to post on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Twitch, among other platforms. Meanwhile, the removal of Parler from both app stores will likely restrict the reach of the more extreme and violent elements of the Trump supporter movement to a degree, pushing them towards less visible areas of the internet. However, many contend that these actions were taken too late, as the damage to both the Capitol and the nation’s collective well-being has already occurred.

We have contacted Parler for further comment.