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Parler took a massive hit on the back end of U.S. Capitol insurrection as Google and Apple removed it from their app stores, along with Amazon ceasing web hosting services on Sunday.
The far right social media site known as an alternative to mainstream options like Facebook and Instagram was offline for nearly 12 hours as of Noon ET on Monday. The official Parler website shows a ‘403 error’, while its app can’t load content.
Parler CEO John Matez said the service was dropped by every vendor and could be the end of business.
President Trump has been banned by several social media platforms after encouraging his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol last week. He also used his official Twitter account to repeat falsehoods about the results of the 2020 election being, calling the process “rigged.” Parler was one of the only sites friendly to the rhetoric of the president and his supporters, allowing users to openly post violent threats prior to Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol grounds.
https://twitter.com/Cbluedreams/status/1347405890505252864
“They all work together to make sure at the same time we would lose access to not only our apps, but they’re actually shutting all of our servers off tonight, off the internet,” Matze told FOX News. “They made an attempt to not only kill the app, but to actually destroy the entire company. And it’s not just these three companies. Every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us too on the same day.”
Matze said that the services are unfairly targeting Parler. “They’re trying to falsely claim that we’re somehow responsible for the events that occurred on (January) 6th.”
Parler announced Monday it would be suing Amazon/AWS for the “death blow” decision to stop hosting the site. They asked a federal court for a temporary restraining order while the case is reviewed.
“Without AWS, Parler is finished as it has no way to get online,” the complaint said. “And a delay of granting this TRO by even one day could also sound Parler’s death knell as President Trump and others move on to other platforms.”
Parler’s lawsuit claims Amazon unlawfully eliminated “a player from the market.” It also cites Amazon for a breach of contract by not providing Parler a 30 days’ notice of termination. Amazon has yet to response to the allegations.
