Tech giants Amazon, Google, and Apple have all suspended social-media app Parler, in an attempted crackdown on what the companies viewed as dangerous content following the pro-Trump riots on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Parler, whose format is similar to Twitter, has catered to right-wing users disappointed at what they perceive as censorship by other social-media platforms. However, several Big Tech companies grew increasingly concerned by calls for violence appearing on the site, after President Trump incited a mob of his supporters to head to the Capitol while Congress certified the Electoral College results.
The mob breached the Capitol and forced lawmakers to evacuate, and dozens of police officers were injured in the melee. One officer was killed, while one rioter was shot and killed.
Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood used Parler to call for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, writing “Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST.” Parler CEO John Matze later told Mediaite that Wood’s post was removed.
Google and Apple removed the Parler app from the companies’ app stores, saying Parler’s content moderation did not adequately police user posts. “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of . . . threats to people’s safety,” Apple said in a statement on Saturday.
Amazon announced late Saturday that it would cease cloud-computing services for Parler. With its removal from Google’s and Apple’s stores and the cessation of support from Amazon, Metze warned that Parler could go offline on Sunday for up to a week.
“There is the possibility that Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to week as we rebuild from scratch,” Metze said in a statement. “Amazon, Google, and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.”
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