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10th Jan 2021

Amazon to remove Parler from its platforms, following Google and Apple suspensions

Alan Loughnane

Parler was recently removed from the App Store and Google Play Store

Parler, the social media app which is increasingly preferred by the far-right, has found itself without a home as Apple, Google and Amazon have removed it from their platforms in the last 24 hours.

Amazon will remove Parler from its cloud hosting service, Amazon Web Services, on Sunday evening, a move which will effectively kick it off the public internet unless it can find a new hosting provider.

The move is the latest attempt by a tech company to clamp down on incitement of violence in the wake of the riots at the US Capitol building on Wednesday.

Apple suspended Parler from its App Store yesterday and Google removed it from the Play Store on Friday.

Google explained the social media platform had failed to remove posts inciting violence, which goes against the companies terms and conditions.

Apple similarly said it had not sufficiently policed its users’ posts, allowing too many that encouraged violence and crime.

Responding to Google’s decision, Parler’s chief executive John Matze said: “We won’t cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech.”

Parler, which calls itself the “free speech platform”, had become a popular alternative social media app for conservatives and members of the far-right, many of whom have accused Twitter of being biased towards liberals.

Towards the end of 2020, the app was reported to have had more than 2 million active daily users.