SAN FRANCISCO, United States – Amazon will suspend Parler, the tech giant confirmed Saturday, which has sent the social media network offline after it was banned by Apple and Google for allowing “threats of violence” following a deadly riot in the Capitol.
The Parler social network has become a haven for conservatives who say they have been censored by other social media platforms.
It had skyrocketed in popularity in recent months, becoming the # 1 free app on Apple’s App Store on Saturday after the much larger Twitter decided to permanently ban US President Trump from its platform for his role in inciting violence in the Capitol. .
Messages of support for Wednesday’s rioters, along with calls for new demonstrations, thrived on the platform, leading Google to remove it from its app store on Friday, followed by Apple on Saturday.
Amazon then proceeded to erase its cloud hosting Amazon Web Services and push it completely offline.
In a letter to Parler first published by Buzzfeed, Amazon said the network was not moving fast enough against violent content on the platform.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms of service,” said the letter, the content of which was confirmed by Amazon to AFP.
Given the riot at the Capitol this week, the letter went on, there was a “serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence.”
The account will be suspended just before midnight Pacific Standard Time on Sunday (0759 GMT Monday).
Since the group hosts Parler’s data on its cloud service, this should prevent it from functioning, at least temporarily.
THREATS OF VIOLENCE
Parler’s founder, John Matz, confirmed on his profile that there was a possibility that the network would be down for “up to a week” while it searches for a new host.
“We will do our best to move to a new provider now,” he said.
Amazon’s decision has a much greater impact than Google’s and Apple’s moves.
They had made downloading the Parler app more complicated, but users could still access it if it had already been downloaded or if they were using an internet browser.
“We have always supported different viewpoints represented in the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” Apple said in a statement Saturday.
“Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the spread of these threats to human security. We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they fix these issues.”
Google pulled Parler from its app store for allowing “blatant content” that could lead to deadly violence, as seen in the Capitol.
Angry Trump supporters swarmed through the building on Wednesday as lawmakers gathered to certify Joe Biden’s election victory on Nov. 3, in which five people – including a police officer – died.
Other mainstream social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch have also suspended Trump after the attack on the Capitol.
Matze has said the platform has “many options” for moving forward.
Parler started in 2018 and was initially a home to the far right, but now draws more traditional conservative voices, including Republican lawmakers.
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