Amazon has pulled its cloud service support for Parler following last week’s riots citing a “steady increase in… violent content” on the platform.
Parler, a social media website nearly identical to Twitter which claims to be a “free speech” alternative to mainstream platforms, has become popular with Trump supporters and is thought to have been a key communication device during Wednesday’s riots at the Capitol Building.
Amazon Web Service (AWS), the cloud computing arm of the retailer on which Parler is hosted, announced on Saturday that it would pull support for the platform forcing it off the internet until it can secure another provider.
In a letter to Parler, Amazon said that it had recently seen “a steady increase in … violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms.
READ MORE: Shopify bans Donald Trump’s stores stating it “does not tolerate actions that incite violence”
“It also seems that Parler is still trying to determine its position on content moderation. You remove some (content) when contacted by us or others, but not always with urgency. Your CEO recently stated publicly that he doesn’t ‘feel responsible for any of this, and neither should the platform’.
“We cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others”.
It came after both Google and Apple announced that they would remove Parler from their app stores.
Employee advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice also called on the retailer to “deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration.”
CNBC reported seeing screenshots of the Parler app showing users calling on people to bring weapons to the presidential inauguration later this month, and others references “firing squads”.
AWS says that it prohibits its customers from using its services for “any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing, or offensive use”.
Click here to sign up to Charged‘s free daily email newsletter
The post Amazon pulls support for alt-right social media platform Parler forcing it offline appeared first on Retail Gazette.
No Comments
Leave a comment Cancel