Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO, pictured Sept. 13, 2018.
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A group of the company’s Amazon employees are calling on the company to stop offering cloud services to Parler, a social media app popular with Trump supporters.
In a tweet on Saturday, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice of the employee advocacy group said Amazon Web Services “should refuse Parler services until it removes messages inciting violence, including at the presidential inauguration.” AWS provides cloud services to Parler hosting its website.
Amazon and Parler representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pressure for Amazon to stop hosting Parler on AWS after other tech giants took action against the social media app in the wake of the deadly uprising at the Capitol earlier this week. On Friday, Google removed Parler from its app store for Android users, Google Play Store. BuzzFeed News reported on Friday that Apple has threatened to remove Parler from the App Store.
Launched in 2018, Parler has become a popular platform for President Trump’s allies over the past year by billing itself as an alternative to free speech to mainstream social media services like Twitter and Facebook.
Screenshots of the Parler app viewed by CNBC show users posting references to firing squads, as well as calls to bring weapons to the presidential inauguration later this month. AWS’s Acceptable Use Policy states that it prohibits customers from using its services “for any unlawful, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or objectionable use”.
Amazon has previously cut ties with customers who break the rules. In 2019, Amazon pulled the plug on a fundraising site used by Gab, a social media site targeting conservatives, after it violated Amazon’s policy on hateful content.
The employee group, AECJ, has had some success in making its demands heard in the past. Last April, the group organized an “online walkout” in protest at the company’s working conditions. Additionally, the group is widely recognized for influencing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ‘decision to announce a sweeping climate change plan after the group pushed for change at the company’s 2019 shareholders’ meeting.
– CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.