Parler CEO John Matze argues that Amazon, Apple and Google’s suspension of the social media platform is “an excellent example” of antitrust.
The alternative social media platform Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Monday after Amazon Web Services’ decision to suspend Parler from its cloud hosting service after last week’s deadly uproar on U.S. Capitol Hill.
Parler is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Amazon Web Services (AWS) from trading Parler and claims that Amazon Web Services is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in the process.
PARLER OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM GETS DARK AFTER THE SUSPENSION OF THE AMAZON CLOUD
“AWS ‘decision to effectively close Parler’s account is apparently motivated by political animosity,” says Parler in his lawsuit. “AWS is violating Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act in combination with the Defendant’s Twitter. AWS is also violating[s] contract with Parler, which requires AWS to provide Parler with a thirty-day notice before terminating service, instead of the less than thirty-hour notice that AWS actually provided. Finally, AWS is intentionally interfering with potential economic advantage, given the millions of users who are expected to sign up in the near future. “
This illustration shows the Parler social media app logo displayed on a smartphone with its website in the background in Arlington, Virginia on July 2, 2020. (OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP via Getty Images)
Parler says he is being discriminated against because he is in direct competition with the social media giant Twitter.
“Last month, defendant Amazon Web Services, Inc. (“ AWS ”) and the popular social media platform Twitter signed a multi-year agreement so that AWS could support the daily delivery of millions of tweets. AWS currently provides that same service to Parler, a conservative alternative to microblogging and a competitor to Twitter, “says the document.
“When Twitter announced two nights ago that it was permanently banning President Trump from its platform, conservative users started fleeing Twitter in droves for Parler. The exodus was so great that the next day, yesterday, Parler became the free app number one downloaded from Apple’s App Store. “
Parler blacked out on Monday after AWS ‘decision to suspend Parler from its cloud hosting service.
During an interview on the “Mornings with Maria” program on Monday, CEO John Matze told users to “wait and come back” while the company finds out how to move on.
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“No one has submitted any reliable information or evidence that, you know, there is any problem with Parler that does not exist on other platforms,” said Matze. “This is really a double standard. … We see all kinds of threatening content on Twitter, much more actually, in our opinion, and, in fact, a lot of content that was deleted from Parler still remains on Twitter to this day on form of screenshots. So, I don’t understand, you know, what it really is about. Because it’s not about holding everyone equally accountable. It’s about giving preferential treatment to certain people. “
The lawsuit comes at a time when Google and Apple also took action against Parler following a pro-Trump riot at the United States Capitol, suspending him from their app store on Friday due to a failure to moderate “content. blatant “posted by users related to the violent siege last week.
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FOX Business’s inquiries with Amazon and Parler were not answered immediately.
Talia Kaplan, Audrey Conklin, James Leggate and Brittany De Lea of FOX Business contributed to this report.