In a court hearing Tuesday afternoon, Amazon said it ripped right-wing social network Parler from its service to the AWS cloud after tagging dozens of violent content since November.
Why is it important?: Parler denounces Amazon and says its expulsion violates antitrust laws. In its response, Amazon cites the violent content and its protection under section 230 of the Decency Act in communications between its defenses.
Details: Amazon said it first sent a letter on Nov. 17 with two examples of violent content and asked the company if that content violated Parler’s rules and what the company was doing to moderate that content.
- Over the next seven weeks, Amazon said it flagged more than 100 content to Parler’s policy director, including threats specifically targeted at members of Congress.
The general picture: Parler has been out with almost all of its technology partners, including Twilio and Amazon, as well as Apple and Google, which have removed the Parler app from their respective app stores.
What they say: In his lawsuit, Parler argued that Amazon conspired with Twitter to reduce service just when it was gaining strength.
- Amazon responded that its actions did not consist of “suppressing speech or stifling views,” or “a conspiracy to curb trade.”
Rather, Amazon said in the filing, “This case is about Parler’s demonstrated unwillingness and inability to remove content from Amazon’s web services that threatens public security, such as inciting and planning the violation, torture and murder of designated public officials and private individuals “.