Parler Goes Dark After Losing Hosting Service

SAN ANGELO, TX -- After Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores and Amazon suspended the app's cloud-based hosting service Parler has officially gone dark.

Amazon Web Services told Parler in an email the suspension occurred after the platform flagged posts that “clearly encourage and incite violence."

According to Parler CEO John Matze, the fast-growing social media site may be down "longer than expected."

“We will likely be down longer than expected,” wrote Matze. “This is not due to software restrictions — we have our software and everyone’s data ready to go. Rather it’s that Amazon’s, Google’s and Apple’s statements to the press about dropping our access has caused most of our other vendors to drop their support for us as well.”

“Most people with enough servers to host us have shut their doors to us. We will update everyone and update the press when we are back online.”

The app, which hosted more than 20 million users, has come under fire after a specific subset of users used the platform to incite violence and allegedly plan the mob that occurred at the Capitol Building on Wednesday.

According to Matze, Parler has removed the violent content and will implement new community guidelines that allow Parler to be knowingly used for criminal activity.  

The CEO claimed the move by Google and Android was an attempt to stifle free speech.

“We are the worlds [sic] last hope for free speech and free information. What they are doing is unprecedented, unfounded, and absolutely disgusting,” wrote Matze on Parler. “They want to keep their monopoly over speech.“

The two tech giants issued the following statements regarding their decision to remove the app.

“We have always supported diverse points of view being represented on the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” an Apple representative said in a statement. “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people’s safety. We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues.”

“In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content have moderation policies and enforcement that removes egregious content like posts that incite violence,” said a Google spokesperson. “All developers agree to these terms and we have reminded Parler of this clear policy in recent months. We’re aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S. We recognize that there can be a reasonable debate about content policies and that it can be difficult for apps to immediately remove all violative content, but for us to distribute an app through Google Play, we do require that apps implement robust moderation for egregious content. In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app’s listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues.“