2021 isn’t looking well for American President Donald Trump and his supporters, at least when it comes to social media. First, Twitter and Facebook banned the president indefinitely. Now, companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon have banned Parler, a social media app favored by Trump supporters.
After the violent US Capitol attack on January 6, Apple made the decision to expel Parler from App Store on Saturday. The social media app favored by the right-wing extremists and conservatives faced criticism as it was used as a platform to plan the attacks.
“There is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” said Apple in a statement after Parler failed to implement a moderation plan.
The company had 24-hours to “take adequate measures to address the proliferation of threats to people’s safety”. Apple plans to lift the ban only after Parler resolves these issues.
Google Follows Apple’s Footstep.
Following Apple’s footsteps, Google also removed Parler from Google Play Store. In a statement, Google said it requires apps to “implement robust moderation for egregious content,” to distribute apps on Google Play.
They further added, “In the light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app’s listing from the Play Store until it addresses these issues.”
Amazon to Remove Parler from its Cloud Hosting Service.
After Apple and Google, Amazon also made the decision to boot Parler from its cloud hosting service, Amazon Web Services.
The social media platform used mainly by white-supremacists for “free speech” will be off the internet as of Sunday. And it will remain offline until it finds a new hosting provider.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” wrote AWS in a letter to Amy Peikoff, Parler’s Chief Policy Officer.
While previous users could still use the platform even after Apple and Google removed the app, Amazon’s removal cuts off Parler from all its users. As it won’t be able to communicate with the servers, the only solution is to find a new provider.
Parler’s CEO Responds to Banning.
John Matze, the CEO of Parler wrote a statement responding to the banning of his app from different platforms. He called it an act of giving up free speech.
Matze accused Amazon of trying to “completely remove free speech off of the internet”. He also accused Apple of being a “software monopoly.”
Matze also wrote that they’ll move Parler to a new provider and build the app from scratch following the accusations. “We have many competing for our business,” wrote the CEO in a statement.
