Parler to relaunch in Apple store

Parler will be available on Apple’s App Store again Monday, the company announced.

The controversial social media company, which has pitched itself as a free speech alternative platform to Facebook and Twitter, was banned after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January.

Apple determined at the time that Parler had not done enough to moderate content on the platform encouraging the riot, which resulted in five deaths. The app was also blocked from Google’s store and dropped from Amazon’s web hosting service.

Parler and conservative lawmakers have decried those removals, saying they prove that Big Tech companies have an anti-conservative bias despite a lack of evidence behind those allegations.

The platform has tried to thread the needle, claiming it is a haven for free speech and telling lawmakers that it had alerted the FBI to some posts in the lead-up to Jan. 6.

Apple agreed to allow Parler back on its App Store last month after a review of changes made to the platform. The extent of those changes is unclear and neither company immediately responded to inquiries about why the app no longer violates store policies.

“Parler has and will always be a place where people can engage in the free exchange of ideas in the full spirit of the First Amendment,” interim Parler CEO Mark Meckler said in a statement. “The entire Parler team has worked hard to address Apple’s concerns without compromising our core mission.”

Meckler also suggested that some content on Parler would be restricted in the iOS app but still available through the web and Android app.

Parler’s return to the App Store comes with some risk for the company. Its announced comeback already drew criticism from some conservatives who accused the company of selling out.