Apple notified Republican members of the Senate and House antitrust subcommittees on Monday that an updated version of the controversial social media app Parler will be reinstated to its app store. Apple had removed Parler following accusations that the app had been used to foment plans for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Now, Apple says that Parler has sufficiently tightened its content moderation policies to be allowed back on its platform. Parler has built a predominantly conservative user base, some of whom have been banned from other social media platforms. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who sits on the antitrust committee, had publicly urged former President Donald Trump to join the platform, saying that he “had a lot of fans” on Parler. Another member of the committee, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), called Parler’s reinstatement a “huge win for free speech.”
