San Francisco, United States.
Parler, the favorite social network of Donald Trump supporters, sued Amazon on Monday for expelling her from the internet by blocking access to her servers to consider that she let violent messages proliferate after the assault on the ‘American chapters.
Amazon said it suspended Parler’s account from 8am GMT on Monday and explained in a letter to this social network that it had observed a “persistent increase in violent content”.
But Parler argued that this decision is based on political reasons and to reduce competition in favor of Twitter. He reproached Amazon for not notifying him 30 days in advance that it would cut off his services.
Parler then asked the court to prevent Amazon from blocking its servers.
Apple and Google had already removed it from their download platforms due to the proliferation of “threats of violence” and “illegal activities.” Both argued that Parler has a very lax content moderation policy.
“Talking can’t, or doesn’t want to, quickly identify and remove such content,” Amazon said in a message to AFP.
Speaking defies Amazon’s rules and, as a result, its demand “is not justified,” the company added, stressing that it wants to serve “customers of all political tendencies.”
Parler’s popularity skyrocketed after Twitter permanently closed Trump’s account on Friday. On Saturday, the Parler app was the most downloaded at Apple in the United States.
Parler co-founder John Matze said Sunday it will take time to get it back up and running.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to get back online as soon as possible, but all the providers we contacted tell us they don’t want to work with us if Apple or Google don’t approve it” and it’s hard to find “300 to 500 servers computers in 24 hours, “Matze acknowledged in an interview with Fox News.
In a statement, Matze said Sunday night that he wants to make Parler a place of “open dialogue” where no form of violence is tolerated.
Launched in 2018, the social network has a similar operation to Twitter. Freedom of expression is its leitmotif.
Based in Henderson, Nevada, Parler was founded by Matze, a computer engineer, and Rebekah Mercer, a major Republican Party donor.
– A rising social network –
The platform initially attracted conservative users, some from the far right but recently began using more traditional Republican voices. Fox News presenter Sean Hannity had 7.6 million followers and his colleague Tucker Carlson, 4.4 million.
Republican politicians, such as MP Devin Nunes and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, also spoke.
But it was Twitter’s recent decision to permanently ban Trump’s personal account that shot up the number of users on Parler.
Other major social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Twitch, have also suspended Trump’s profile, prompting many of his followers to flock en masse to conservative platforms like Parler or Gab.
After this tough-handed demonstration by tech giants against extremist messages, conservative social media is likely to have to adapt.
The DLive live video service, used by several protesters during the Capitol invasion on Wednesday, banned seven channels and removed more than 100 videos.
Some might choose to act like Gab did, a social network populated mostly by ultra-conservative users.
The platform was at the center of controversy in 2018, when it was discovered that the perpetrator of a shooting that killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh had posted many anti-Semitic messages on this social network.
Once Apple and Google vetoed it, Gab acquired its own servers so as not to depend on outside companies.
This network benefited from what has happened with Parler and in the last few hours gained thousands of subscribers.