John Matze, CEO of Parler, the free speech-oriented Twitter alternative, responded Friday to the report that Apple might kick his app off its app store if it did not censor users.
"Apple is currently threatening to ban Parler -- the free speech alternative to Twitter -- unless the service enacts draconian censorship policies demanded by left-wing Big Tech oligarchs, according to two sources familiar with Apple's threats," The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis tweeted.
BREAKING: Apple is currently threatening to ban Parler -- the free speech alternative to Twitter -- unless the service enacts draconian censorship policies demanded by left-wing Big Tech oligarchs, according to two sources familiar with Apple's threats.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 8, 2021
But Matze indicated that the Twitter alternative would not amend its policies to appease the Big Tech company.
"We plan on enforcing our [terms of service] and complying with law enforcement as we usually do," he told CNSNews. "Apple believes they are in a political position strong enough to protect their anti-competitive interests by enforcing their censorship onto people on Parler."
"We will and always have enforced our rules against violence and illegal activity," Matze said in a subsequent Parler post. "But we WON'T cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech!"
CNSNews sat down with Matze in August to discuss his site's policies, as well its handling of a video by America's Frontline Doctors in which one doctor posited hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the coronavirus.
Rob Shimshock is the commentary editor at CNSNews.com. He has covered education, culture, media, technology, and politics for a variety of national outlets, hosted the Campus Unmasked YouTube show, and was named to The Washington Examiner's "30 Under 30" list. Shimshock graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Media Studies.