Amazon is booting social media platform Parler off its web hosting service Amazon Web Services (AWS), which will knock the platform offline on Sunday until it can find a new host.
Amazon says that c0ntent on the social media site violates its terms of service, adding that it does not believe Parler has a good strategy for cracking down on speech on its platform, according to an email obtained by BuzzFeed News.
“Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” said Amazon in its email to Parler. “It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.”
“It also seems that Parler is still trying to determine its position on content moderation,” the email added. “You remove some violent content when contacted by us or others, but not always with urgency.”
The email continues as follows:
Your CEO recently stated publicly that he doesn’t “feel responsible for any of this, and neither should the platform.” This morning, you shared that you have a plan to more proactively moderate violent content, but plan to do so manually with volunteers. It’s our view that this nascent plan to use volunteers to promptly identify and remove dangerous content will not work in light of the rapidly growing number of violent posts. This is further demonstrated by the fact that you still have not taken down much of the content that we’ve sent you. Given the unfortunate events that transpired this past week in Washington, D.C., there is serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence.
“[W]e cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others,” the email added. “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.”- READ MORE
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