Following the example of Google, Apple announced on Saturday January 9 that it had removed the social network Parler from its application download platform, popular with supporters of Donald Trump, due to the profusion of “Threats of violence and illegal activities”, when Amazon also plans to cut the bridges on Monday. This should make the platform temporarily inaccessible.
“Parler has not taken adequate measures to combat the proliferation of these threats to the security of persons”, Apple justified in a message to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The group therefore decided to ” to suspend “ Speak “Until they have solved these problems”.
For its part, Amazon says it has “Recently observed a persistent increase in violent content”. “Given the unfortunate events that have occurred this week in Washington, there is a serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence,” is it written in a letter addressed to the conservative site, first published by BuzzFeed News and whose content has been confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson.
Many new followers
Amazon has therefore decided to suspend Parler’s account as of January 10 at 11:59 p.m. US West Coast time (8:59 a.m. in Paris on Monday). As the group hosts Parler’s data on its cloud service, this should at least temporarily prevent the social network from functioning.
Messages of support for the rioters who burst into the Capitol on Wednesday have flourished in particular after the events on the social network, which has gained many followers in recent months. Saturday, the application was thus the most downloaded on the App Store before it was suspended.
Many fans of the US president have indeed flocked to conservative platforms like Parler or Gab following Twitter’s decision to permanently close Donald Trump’s account. Other mainstream networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Twitch have also suspended the profile of the tenant of the White House after the events of Wednesday.
A decision castigated by the boss of Parler
The boss of Parler, John Matze, lamented on his account that Apple banned the social network “Until we give up freedom of expression, put in place policies [de modération] very broad and invasive like Twitter and Facebook and that we become a monitoring platform by judging in advance the users of Parler ».
Regarding Amazon’s decision, he confirmed on his profile that he was “Possible that the social network is not accessible on the Internet for a period of up to a week”. “We will do everything to find a new supplier quickly”, he added.
“Amazon, Google and Apple did this in a coordinated effort knowing that our options would be limited and that it would inflict as much damage on us as President Trump is banned by tech companies,” lamented the boss of Parler.
The social network Parler was especially in its beginnings in 2018 the prerogative of extremist fringes but now attracts more traditional conservative voices, including Republican parliamentarians.
