Technical / We were no.1 till your friends went after us: Parler CEO to Twitter CEO

Technical Desk: The chief executives of Parler and Twitter were at odds with each other on Saturday, as each posted on their own network about Apple's ban of Parler.

After Apple banned Parler for failing to remove content promoting violence, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a picture of the Top Charts on the App Store. Before the ban, Parler had been the most downloaded app. By Saturday night, it was gone.

Dorsey added a heart emoji.

On Parler, CEO John Matze responded by posting a screenshot of Dorsey's tweet and adding his own comment.

"Yeah, we were number one until the fake news rage mob at Twitter and your anti-competitive friends went after us," Matze wrote. He added: "That's real cute."

Parler, which has become home to a growing number of conservative and alt-right voices, was banned from the app stores run by both Apple and Google. Both companies said the app didn't do enough to moderate incendiary talk. "No change without bloodshed!" a Parler user wrote as the mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

Google banned it late Friday, with Matze saying it was a "horrible way to handle this."

Apple followed with its own ban on Saturday, after giving the app a day to update its moderation efforts. "Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people's safety," Apple reportedly said. 

Earlier on Saturday, Matze had posted about Apple's ban, saying Apple wanted him to put in place "surveillance" policies.

"They claim it is due to violence on the platform. The community disagrees as we hit number 1 on their store today," he wrote. He noted that "Hang Mike Pence" had become a trending topic on Twitter, before the network halted it.

"Displaying the horrible double standard Apple and their big tech pack apply to the community," Matze said.

On Parler, prominent users said banning it was a form of censorship.

"Apple and Google have now removed the Parler App. Welcome to political censorship! Spread the word so your fellow Americans know about this," wrote Rep. Devin Nunes late on Saturday night.

Rep. Ken Buck wrote that Congress needed to take action against Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Apple. "Big Tech has abused its monopolistic power and has engaged in censorship," he wrote.

President Donald Trump's son Eric Trump on Saturday posted a picture of himself with the caption: "The MAGA movement is going nowhere. [President Trump] has created the greatest political movement in American history."

Like Twitter, Parler users can also sign into the network on the web. But Amazon is reportedly removing the company from its Amazon Web Services. The platform may go offline Sunday night, unless it can find an alternative hosting platform, said Matze. It might be offline for a week.

Matze said on Saturday the tech firms were working together to shut down Parler.

"We are the closest thing to competition Facebook or Twitter has seen in many years. I believe Amazon, Google, Apple worked together to try and ensure they don't have competition," he said.