Parler app available again in Google Play Store

The social media platform Parler is available again for users to download from the Google Play Store a year and a half after the app was removed, the company said Friday. 

Parler, which boasts its limited content moderation measures, was banned from the app store since January 2021 over a lack of moderation on posts that were deemed to incite violence around the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. 

“While away from Google Play, we have worked diligently to build a more feature-rich and dynamic user experience. Now is a perfect time to join Parler and rediscover the non-partisan platform where we enable people to speak freely,” Parler’s chief technology officer Sam Lipoff said in a tweeted statement. 

Google’s decision to allow Parler back into its store comes after the app reportedly made changes that allow users to block and report others and to actively monitor content for issues like violent speech, Axios reported. 

“As we’ve long stated, apps are able to appear on Google Play provided they comply with Play’s developer policies,” a Google spokesperson told Axios.

“As we’ve long stated, apps are able to appear on Google Play provided they comply with Play’s developer policies,” a Google spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.

Parler grew in popularity after the 2020 election, attracting a right-wing audience that griped about content moderation measures on mainstream sites like Twitter and Facebook. 

Apple let Parler back in its app store last May. 

Former President Trump’s alternative social media platform Truth Social is facing a similar issue with access to the Google Play store. 

The Truth Social app is not available in the store. A Google spokesperson told The Hill earlier this week that the platform lacks the “effective” content moderation needed to meet the store’s terms of service.