Parler is suing Amazon for shutting down its servers, after it was unable to find a replacement hosting platform.
Parler has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against e-commerce giant Amazon, claiming they broke the contract between the two companies, after Amazon gave the company 24 hours to find new servers before forcing them out.
The CEO of the Twitter alternative, John Matze, initially explained to Fox News that they would try to “get back online as quickly as possible” after the incident, but said it could take over a week before it happens.
According to Reuters: “Amazon suspended Parler from its Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit for violating AWS’ terms of services by failing to effectively deal with a steady increase in violent content, according to an e-mail by an AWS Trust and Safety team to Parler, seen by Reuters. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the letter was authentic.”
Parler lawsuit opens by stating: “Last month, Defendant Amazon Web Services, Inc. (‘AWS’) and the popular social media platform Twitter signed a multi-year deal so that AWS could support the daily delivery of millions of tweets. AWS currently provides that same service to Parler, a conservative microblogging alternative and competitor to Twitter.”
As a result of President Trump’s indefinite suspension by Twitter, Parler skyrocketed in popularity, becoming the most popular app on Apple’s App Store. The lawsuit then states AWS’ announcement that it would suspend Parler’s account effective Sunday, January 10th, at 11:59 PM PST.
AWS claimed that they were not confident “Parler could properly police its platform regarding content that encourages or incites violence against others.”
But the lawsuit disputes this, saying that: “One of the top trending tweets on Twitter was ‘Hang Mike Pence’. Yet AWS did not make the same threat to Twitter.”
This is evidence, they claimed, that AWS’ move against Parler was based on political opposition and destroying competition, rather than any concerns about incitement of violence.
The lawsuit continued: “AWS is violating Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, in combination with Defendant Twitter. AWS is also breaching its contract with Parler, which requires AWS to provide Parler with a thirty-day notice before terminating service, rather than the less than thirty-hour notice AWS actually provided.”
It also accused AWS of “committing intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, given the millions of users expected to sign up in the near future”.
Parler was seeking a temporary restraining order against Amazon to stop it from “shutting down Parler’s account at the end of today”, given the monopolies that AWS, Apple and Google have on large-scale web hosting and downloadable apps respectively.
Google and Apple have also removed the app from their stores.
