Tag Archives: Parler

A federal judge is refusing to restore the social media site Parler after Amazon kicked the company off of its web-hosting services over content seen as inciting violence.

The decision is a blow to Parler, an upstart that has won over Trump loyalists for its relatively hands-off approach to moderating content. The company sued Amazon over its ban, demanding reinstatement.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein sided with Amazon, which argued that Parler would not take down posts that threatened public safety even in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and that it is within Amazon’s rights to punish the company over its refusal.

“The Court rejects any suggestion that the public interest favors requiring AWS to host the incendiary speech that the record shows some…

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Parler LLC failed to convince a judge to order Amazon.com Inc. to immediately resume hosting the social media platform popular with conservatives, leaving it hobbled while it relies on a Russian-owned service for a bare-bones web presence.

Thursday’s ruling is a significant blow for the site that found its niche as a voice for aggrieved Donald Trump supporters and right-wing dialog. It’s a victory for critics including Amazon who say Parler has…

[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in journalist Eli Sanders’ “Wild West” newsletter, which covers internet-related legal issues. Subscribe here.]

The social media platform Parler marketed itself as a place where Americans could “speak freely” and avoid the fear of being “deplatformed.” Its investors included conservative donor Rebekah Mercer, who described Parler as “a beacon to all who value their liberty.” But Parler was never any sort of wholly independent island of absolutely free speech.

Before Parler’s August 2018 launch, according to court documents, its leaders signed the nascent site up for Amazon’s cloud-based web hosting services. In practical terms, this meant that a platform that billed itself as “the world’s…

CEO John Matze said in Monday’s filing that Parler does not have the resources to host itself on its own servers. Amazon (AMZN)‘s ban forced it to seek alternative providers, he said in the filing — which is part of an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies.

Parler is an alternative social network favored by the far right that was removed from Google and Apple’s app stores, along with Amazon’s cloud hosting service, in the wake of the deadly riot at the Capitol.

Parler’s website suddenly reappeared online Sunday afternoon with a message from Matze: “Hello world, is this thing on?”