Well. Who knew that Jeff Bezos who is the CEO of Amazon had Thanos like powers? I say that because news is breaking that Parler who has been punted from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store now is in very deep trouble as it is being suspended from Amazon Web Services:
Amazon suspended the pro-Trump social-networking site Parler from its web-hosting service this weekend, a move that threatens to darken the site indefinitely after its users glorified the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The e-commerce and web hosting giant said Parler had violated its terms of service given its inadequate content-moderation practices, adding in a letter to the social network that it would implement its punishment just before midnight Pacific time Monday.
What that means is that unless Parler changes course on the moderation issues that have led to these bans, Jeff Bezos has effectively Thanos snapped Parler off the Internet. Now it seems like Parler has some sort of “plan b” to get back on line based on this:
Parler also did not respond to a request for comment. But its chief executive, John Matze, said in a post on the site that Parler could be “unavailable on the Internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch.”
I question if that’s viable to be honest. AWS is the big boy on the block when it comes to hosting sites the scale of Parler. I am not sure who would be capable of doing the same thing at a similar scale. Not to mention who would be willing to have Parler as a customer. Thus I think that we may be watching the endgame when it comes to Parler. But I am free to be surprised.
BREAKING: Parler Sues Amazon For Site Takedown…. Alleges Antitrust Violations
Posted in Commentary with tags Amazon, Parler on January 11, 2021 by itnerdLet the games begin.
Alternative social networking service Parler has sued Amazon accusing its web hosting service of breaking anti-trust laws in taking off the platform that is popular with many right-leaning social media users. You can read the court document here. But here’s the reasons why they will lose. First of all, and most important of all, Parler violated Amazon’s terms of service because unlike Facebook and Twitter, Parler doesn’t crack down on hate speech. And you combine that with the fact that people on its platform plotted the events of last Wednesday that left five dead, Amazon was well within its rights to toss them off AWS. Second, Amazon has really deep pockets and will simply throw lawyers at this to make Parler either go away, or run them out of money.
Here’s the counterpoint. If you read their court document, they make some somewhat interesting arguments. Specifically:
4. AWS’s decision to effectively terminate Parler’s account is apparently
motivated by political animus. It is also apparently designed to reduce competition
in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.
And:
5. Thus, AWS is violating Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act in
combination with Defendant Twitter. AWS is also breaching it contract with
Parler, which requires AWS to provide Parler with a thirty-day notice before
terminating service, rather than the less than thirty-hour notice AWS actually
provided. Finally, AWS is committing intentional interference with prospective
economic advantage given the millions of users expected to sign up in the near
future.
I would be interested to see if Parler can prove that there was a political motive behind this, and that Amazon is trying to hurt them. But remember on both parts of this, I’m a computer geek and not a lawyer.
This will be fun to watch.
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