Parler CEO John Matze joins CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on July 2, 2020.
CNBC
Amazon has pulled the plug on Parler, a social media app popular with Trump supporters, in the wake of the deadly U.S. Capitol riot earlier this week.
Amazon’s cloud-computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS), informed Parler on Saturday that it will no longer provide cloud services to the company beginning on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. PT, according to an email obtained by CNBC. AWS provides cloud services to Parler that host its website, which means that if Parler can’t locate a new cloud provider by Sunday night, the site will go offline for its users.
News of Amazon’s decision to drop Parler was first reported by BuzzFeed.
In the email, Amazon Web Services’ Trust and Safety team told Parler’s Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff that the platform continues to host “violent content” that violates AWS’ terms of service. AWS said it wasn’t satisfied with Parler’s attempts to moderate content on its platform and, as a result, would move to “suspend Parler’s account.”
“AWS provides technology and services to customers across the political spectrum, and we continue to respect Parler’s right to determine for itself what content it will allow on its site,” the letter states. “However, we cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others. Because Parler cannot comply with our terms of service and poses a very real risk to public safety, we plan to suspend Parler’s account effective Sunday, January 10th, at 11:59PM PST.”
Although Google and Apple both removed the Parler app from their app stores on Friday and Saturday, respectively, users could still log in if they already had the app installed or through the Parler website. Amazon’s move to stop hosting Parler goes a step further, effectively taking it completely offline unless the company can find a new host first.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the letter to CNBC, but declined to comment further. A Parler spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.