Violence plans by Trump supporters: Apple and Amazon kick Parler out

Sunday 10th January 2021

Violence plans by Trump supporters
Apple and Amazon kick Parler out

Many Trump supporters who felt bullied by networks like Twitter or Facebook have moved to Parler in recent months. Right-wing extremists can also let off steam on the platform. After Google, Apple and Amazon no longer want to work with the app.

One day after Google, Apple and Amazon also banned the right-wing social media app Parler from their services until further notice. The platform violated the App Store conditions, it said in a message from Apple to Parler, about which the TV broadcaster CNN reported. According to the news site Buzzfeed, Amazon informed the news service that Amazon Web Services will no longer be available as a web host.

In the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, the download of the news app popular with supporters of the outgoing US President Donald Trump is blocked. The companies claim that Parler does not offer sufficient regulations to protect against dangerous content. Apple referred to contributions from users planning an armed protest in Washington.

"The processes that Parler has set up to moderate or prevent the distribution of dangerous and illegal content have proven to be inadequate," complained Apple. In particular, direct threats of violence and calls to incite illegal acts that violated the guidelines were found. Parler had been removed from the app store until the problems were resolved.

A Google spokesman had made a similar statement on Friday. Google's guidelines required apps with user-generated content to have their own guidelines for "removing content such as posts that incite violence," it said. Given the ongoing and acute threat to public safety, Parler will no longer be available until these issues are resolved.

Parler boss invokes freedom of speech

Parler is a social network that many Trump supporters switched to after being banned from services like Twitter. Twitter had permanently blocked Trump's private account on Friday. Three days after the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, the short message service justified the move by saying that Trump's recent tweets indicated the risk of further incitement to violence.

Parler CEO John Matze criticized on his platform, according to CNN, that Apple would ban Parler "until we give up free speech, introduce broad and invasive guidelines like Twitter and Facebook and we become a surveillance platform". Parler describes itself as an "unbiased" medium that promotes freedom of speech and focuses on protecting user rights.

According to US media reports, the violent protests by Trump supporters on Wednesday, which culminated in the storming of the Capitol in Washington, were largely organized via apps such as Parler. People in Trump's environment had repeatedly advertised Parler as an alternative to Twitter or Facebook, which allegedly suppressed conservative views. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Twitter at the end of June that she had set up an account with Parler because she was fed up with conservatives being "censored" on other platforms.