By Joel Rosenblatt | Bloomberg
Parler’s CEO says he hid after receiving death threats.
John Matze Jr.’s social media platform was briefly the new home for Donald Trump’s conservative supporters, who flocked to it after Twitter banned the president. But Parler deleted it on Sunday after Apple Inc. and Google removed it from their app stores and Amazon.com removed the plug from its web hosting service, citing violent content that the e-commerce giant says had influenced the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
“Many Parler employees are experiencing harassment and hostility, fear for their safety and that of their families and, in some cases, have fled their state to escape persecution,” said Matze’s lawyer in Parler’s lawsuit aimed at forcing Amazon Web Services to put the platform back online. Matze had to “hide with his family after receiving death threats and invasive breaches of personal security”.
The CEO did not specify the source of the threats, but his lawyer said in a filing that Matze’s covert action was necessary because he was singled out “while the AWS CEO continues to defame”.