Parler—a social media app increasingly popular among conservatives, including many who participated in Wednesday’s unrest at the U.S. Capitol—is on the brink of being booted from the Internet after Amazon, Apple and Google said they would cut ties with it, all within the span of 24 hours.
Amazon notified Parler on Saturday night that it would no longer host the platform on Amazon Web Services starting Sunday night, which means it will go offline unless it can find a new hosting service before then.
In a letter sent to Parler’s Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff, Amazon—which had come under mounting pressure from employees demanding Parler’s de-platforming—told the app that it had seen 98 examples of “posts that clearly encourage and incite violence” in recent weeks.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” wrote Amazon Web Services, adding: “It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.
Amazon’s ban came after Apple kicked Parler off its app store Saturday afternoon for failing to introduce a moderation plan for violent content, including the “planning of illegal and dangerous activities,” which it had given the platform 24 hours to do.
Google has also kicked Parler off its Google Play store until the app comes back with a plan for “robust moderation for egregious content.”
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“As Amazon workers, we demand Amazon deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration,” wrote a group of Amazon employees entitled Amazon Employees For Climate Justice in a letter to their employer posted on Twitter. “We cannot be complicit in more bloodshed and violent attacks on our democracy.”
CHIEF CRITIC
Parler CEO John Matze warned users Saturday night that Parler will be unavailable to the Internet for up to a week “as we build from scratch,” slamming Amazon for trying to “completely remove free speech off the internet” and big tech platforms for wanting to “kill competition.” “We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business,” wrote Matze. Parler did not immediately respond to requests for comment about which providers it is considering.
