LONDON (Bywire News) - The creator of Cardano has hit out at Apple’s decision to remove the right-wing app Parler from its store and vowed to create a solution which will ‘eat their lunch’.
Charles Hoskinson of IOHK has hinted at plans to build open protocols which he hopes could compete with the power of Apple.
It’s a move driven by a belief that the blockchain can challenge the power of big tech which he believes is beholden to governments. Twitter’s recent decision to suspend the account of Donald Trump, is he believes another example in which free speech is being trampled.
However, what really seems to have got his goat, is the decision of Apple and other networks to remove the Parler app from its store.
Parler, which is used by many right-wing Conservatives, has been the subject of enormous controversy for years. It has been used to spread racist conspiracy theories and is also believed to have facilitated right-wing groups in coordinating last week’s attacks against the Capitol.
In the wake of the attacks, Google and Apple suspended it from their store while Amazon Web Services said it will no longer host the platform.
Many Conservatives have hit out at the decision and Hoskinson appears to agree. He took to Twitter, to condemn the news and issue a veiled threat.
“Thank you Apple for making cryptocurrencies even greater,” he wrote. “Please continue to abuse your platform and Destroy free speech. I cannot wait to build open protocols that will eat your lunch.”
Hoskinson believes the platforms enjoy a monopoly and have abused their position for their own political and commercial ends. It’s worth noting that big tech companies have previously refused to heed calls to suspend Trump and crackdown on Parler.
It’s only now, as we approach a transition of power in Washington that they have decided to act. While many might be happy to see the departure of Trump from the Twitterverse, this is a decision borne out of self-interest rather than a sense of moral duty. It’s hard to imagine they would have made the same decision had Trump been getting ready for a second term.
With Biden entering the White House, pledging to crack down on extremist content on social media, big tech is dancing to a different tune.
Hoskinson is proposing to build community-controlled protocols which would counter the Monopoly of Apple, Google and other Silicon Valley giants. He is convinced that the crypto industry has the tools to build protocols which can overcome censorship and develop a new way to curate information.
(Written by Tom Cropper, edited by Klaudia Fior)