Conservative app Parler goes offline as Amazon terminates hosting

San Francisco

Amazon told Parler of its decision last week in a letter to chief policy officer Amy Peikoff.

According to The Verge, Amazon Web Service (AWS) "cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others," the letter to Peikoff stated, adding that Parler "poses a very real risk to public safety".

As per reports, posts on Parler that encouraged violence leading up to the attack on the Capitol that left five people dead were circulated on other platforms in the wake of the riot.

"Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people's safety. We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues," Apple said in a statement on Sunday.

"Parler has not upheld its commitment to moderate and remove harmful or dangerous content encouraging violence and illegal activity, and is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines," it added.

Parler is touted as a free-speech alternative, allowing posts that include conspiracy theories, threats and hate speech, among other things, to remain on the platform.

Parler CEO John Matze also posted a statement, accusing Apple of applying a "horrible double standard" in its decision.

"Apple, Google and the rest of the anti-competitive pack of big tech tyrants coordinate their moves and work together to stifle competition in the marketplace," Matze said.

Google had earlier removed Parler from its Play Store after it found that Parler did not take stronger action to remove posts that sought "to incite ongoing violence" in the US.

"We're aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US. In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app's listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues," Google said.