Apple and Amazon Suspend Free Speech and Social Network Parler

Apple Inc and Amazon have both suspended microblogging and social networking service Parler from their respective App Store and web hosting service.

The free speech and social network, popular with right-leaning social media users was suspended due to its failure to put up measures to prevent the circulation of posts inciting violence.

Just last Friday, Alphabet Inc’s Google had suspended Parler. The platform is popular with many supporters of U.S President Donald Trump and is seen as a refuge for people banned from Twitter.

Apple in a statement on Saturday said, “We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues.”

Apple had given Parler 24 hours to submit a detailed moderation plan, pointing to participants’ using the service to coordinate Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol.

Amazon’s move effectively takes the site offline unless it can find a new company to host its services.

Amazon suspended Parler from its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit, for violating AWS’s terms of services by failing to effectively deal with a steady increase in violent content, according to an email by an AWS Trust and Safety team to Parler, seen by Reuters.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the letter was authentic.

Due to the “very real risk to public safety” that Parler poses, AWS plans to suspend Parler’s account effective Sunday, at 11:59 p.m. PST, the email seen by Reuters showed.

Parler Chief Executive John Matze didn’t take the actions lightly as he berated Amazon, Google, and Apple, saying it was a coordinated effort knowing Parler’s options would be limited and it would inflict the most damage right as Trump was banned from other social media platforms.

Matze in a post on Parler said,  “There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch.

“This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place… You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out.”