Following the current showdown in the US over the Capitol Hill riot, Parler which recently got ousted by app distribution services such as Apple and Google is also facing the same issue with Amazon which hosts the service on it AWS platform.
Amazon announce it will suspend the conservative-focused social media site from its server on Sunday over violent content which Parler had refused to take responsibility over. Non compliance of Parler based on recommendations of Apple led to the service being ousted according to a post from the company’s CEO John Matze on Friday.
According to reports, the platform was allegedly used by some right-wing political users to “express hatred and threaten violence” which is said to be related to the Wednesday’s riot at the US Capitol. Donald Trump also got his account completely ousted from Twitter and an indefinite suspension from Facebook.
“Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” Amazon Web Services trust and safety team said in a letter to Parler obtained by NBC News.
“It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.”
John Matze stood his ground in a recent post he made on the platform where he stated that the decision by Amazon is an attempt to completely remove “free speech off the internet.”
“There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch,” he wrote.
In defense of his company, Matze stated that the Silicon Valley tech giants are working up against the democracy of Americans who just to express themselves over the internet and also stated that other social networking platforms like Facebook or Twitter aren’t held to the same standard Parler is being held.
Matze accused the Silicon Valley tech giants of a “coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., described the situation in a tweet as a “purge of conservative ideas and thought leaders.”
Twitter permanently suspended the president on Friday, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” The next day, Apple’s App Store joined Google Play in suspending Parler until it adopts stricter content moderation.
“We have always supported diverse points of view being represented on the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” Apple said in a statement Saturday.
Apple also sent a letter to Parler where it stated that it wants the social networking company to take full responsibility of its user-generated contents. “We have continued to find direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless action” on the social media platform.
On the other hand, Amazon sent a bunch of screenshots to Parler’s HQ stating that some of the contents on the social media platform had violated its own service guidelines and hosting terms. One of such post includes a user stating that he would give liberals “a damn bullet to your damn head.”
Another said, “We need to systematically start assassinating #liberal leaders.”
Amazon declined to comment.
Parler was founded back in the year 2018 after a massive purge of some big right-wing political activist from mainstream social media platforms such as Milo Yiannopoulos and others who immediately flocked to the alternative network.
Parler tries to be what Facebook and Twitter aren’t which is allowing users to basically write whatever it is they want on their without any formal set of moderation policies.
Meanwhile with another purge on Friday which also led to the permanent ousting of President Trump’s personal account @RealDonaldTrump, Parler would have been the right place for the right wing activists to move to which would have decimated the social media industry whereby the Right flock to Parler and the Left stay at Twitter but with Parler in its current ordeal, it might be hard for the alternative social networking service to find its place especially on iPhones due to the App Store being the only official means of using iOS applications even though Android users can still sideload the application.
