Thread by @BerinSzoka

Republicans have relentlessly attacked "Big Tech" companies for "censoring" conservatives

Under pressure, Apple has caved, reinstating the #Parler app even though, for example, openly Nazi content is still readily available on the site. And that's just the tip of the iceberg...

https://twitter.com/_/status/1384159186209054721

It's hard to know what's really on Parler because the site doesn't allow full text search: unlike on Facebook or Twitter, you can only search for user names and hashtags

Even before the January 6 insurrection, Parler censored certain hashtags, like the N-Word

This was the bare minimum of what it took to create the veneer of respectability required to pretend that the site wasn't the cesspool of hate speech that it actually is

Parler seems to have expanded the list of banned hashtags to include other code words (eg "skittles"=Muslims)

But it doesn't take long to find openly Nazi content like this
parler.com/post/dd1e7fab-…

Just try looking through the #HitlerWasRight hashtag parler.com/search?hashtag…

I'm not a content moderation expert but "卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐卐" might be a tell

More charming Nazi content--with 8.5k views!

Again, tip of the iceberg...

But the problem with Parler isn't just Nazi shit. 5 months ago, the Washington Post noted that the site had become a haven for those distributing images and pictures of children being raped, a/k/a Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) washingtonpost.com/technology/202…

Parler's response was: "we don't go looking for that stuff"

And as a legal matter, they're right: they have no *legal* duty to monitor for CSAM (because that would make websites state actors under the 4th amendment) and the law requires actual knowledge of CSAM

But every respectable company takes basic measures to screen out CSAM, starting with using PhotoDNA that identifies known CSAM so it can be blocked

AFAIK, Parler has refused to implement this *free* tool

Because "free speech" (or whatever)

In short, Parler remains an evil website that no decent company should do business with

It's sad Republicans have succeeded in bullying Apple into making Parler available on its store, especially to children

And even sadder that the Republican persecution complex has blinded them to the true nature of Parler techdirt.com/articles/20200…

Meanwhile, despite its supposed efforts to clean up content on the site, Parler continues to let QAnon conspiracy theories flourish

And obviously anti-semitic hashtags like #ItsTheJews and #JewsAreNotWhite

And #Jews is dominated by posts from DasEchteQ (the Real Q) like this

Parler simply isn't serious about preventing its site from being used as a propaganda mill

In short, nothing has really changed since the @simonwiesenthal Center published this report last year documenting how Parler is used by Nazis to plan another Holocaust
wiesenthal.com/assets/pdf/par…

But, apparently, a little window dressing is good enough for Apple!

Anyone who thinks Parler has "cleaned up its act" needs to spend some time looking through the #Jews hashtag parler.com/search?hashtag…

Make sure to disable the filters that allow Parler to pretend that this shit isn't there

Because it is, and the people who want to find it know

On re-reading Apple's letter to Republican lawmakers more carefully, I see that Ken Buck has declared victory prematurely

Apple isn't reinstating the Parler app yet. Apple is saying they will reinstate the app once Parler meets the same standards all other apps meet

Specifically, Parler will have to start proactively filtering objectionable material -- starting with CSAM (PhotoDNA) but also hate speech, incitement to violence, etc

Parler obviously doesn't have such filtering tools today--or you wouldn't see the shit I posted above

I find it hard to believe that Parler is capable of building such a tool anytime soon, but we'll see what bullshit half-ass "fix" they come up with

Apple will probably reject that, and Republicans will have another outrage cycle over "censorship" to raise money about

Note one other thing: Apple words their letter carefully to say that Parler has promised to filter content "on the app"

Which suggests that whatever they're going to do won't stop hate speech, etc from showing up on the website

The one exception would have to be CSAM: because if they start using PhotoDNA to identify and block CSAM on the app, they'll have "knowledge" of it, and so will have to block it on the website as well

But note that they're being forced, kicking and screaming, to do this at all