US social media site Parler has been taken offline following Amazon’s decision not to host the site via its Amazon Web Service (AWS).
The company issued warned Parler ahead of time last Saturday, giving a two-day warning that the service would no longer be supported by AWS from January 10th at 11:59 PST. In a letter to Parler, Amazon stated that “Parler cannot comply with our terms of service and poses a very real risk to public safety”.
Amazon also added that AWS “cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others”. This is also highlighted in AWS’ Acceptable Use Policy.
Parler was also removed from both Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store last week, following its failure to moderate harmful and violent content surrounding the recent insurrection at Capitol Hill.
“Parler has not upheld its commitment to moderate and remove harmful or dangerous content encouraging violence and illegal activity, and is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines,” Apple wrote in a statement.
Downward spiral
The site has been online since 2018 and has recently become popular with Trump supporters and the right-wing. It was also used to incite violent conversation before and after the Capitol Hill events. Recent posts shared to other social media show users on Parler taking part in discussions about weapons and methods of hurting other individuals during the riot.
Speaking to Fox, Parler chief policy officer Amy Peikoff said that Parler is “clearly being singled out”, and company CEO John Matze claimed that the site will “try to get back online as quickly as possible”.
Furthermore, cloud comms platform Twilio also pulled support for Parler. The company cited “prohibiting the spread of disinformation, encouraging violence, destruction of property among other illegal activity”, as well as a host of other reasons listed in a statement.
While Parler seems to be confident that it’ll return, it is failing to secure the resources needed to get back up and running. According to Matze, many other vendors have “shut their doors” on Parler following statements from Google and Apple.
