Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, appears on September 13, 2018.
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A group of Amazon corporate employees is calling on the company to stop providing cloud services to Parler, a popular social networking app among Trump supporters.
In a tweet on Saturday, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice’s advocacy group said Amazon Web Services should “deny Parler’s services until it removes posts that incite violence, including the presidential inauguration.” AWS provides cloud services to Parler that hosts its website.
Representatives from Amazon and Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pressure has risen for Amazon to stop hosting Parler on AWS after other tech giants took action against social media enforcement following the deadly U.S. Capitol riot earlier in the week. On Friday, Google removed Parler from its Android app store, Google Play Store. BuzzFeed News reported Friday that Apple has threatened to remove Parler from its App Store.
Parler, which launched in 2018, has become a popular platform for President Trump’s allies in the past year, billing itself as a free speech alternative to major social media services such as Twitter and Facebook.
Screenshots of the Parler app seen by CNBC show users posting references to firing squads, as well as calls to bear arms at the presidential inauguration later this month. AWS’s acceptable use policy states that it prohibits customers from using its services “for any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or offensive use.”
Amazon has previously severed ties with customers who violated its rules. In 2019, Amazon plugged in a fundraising site used by Gab, a social media site that caters to conservatives, after violating Amazon’s policies on hate content.
The group of employees, AECJ, has had some success making their demands felt in the past. Last April, the group staged an “online outing” in protest of the company’s work practices. In addition, the group is widely credited with influencing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ‘decision to announce a comprehensive climate change plan after the group pushed for change at the company’s shareholders’ meeting in 2019 .
– CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.