Parler sues Amazon, asks court to reinstate platform

[Dalek]

Parler sues Amazon, asks court to reinstate platform

Social media company Parler sued Amazon on Monday, alleging that its suspension from Amazon’s hosting service violated antitrust law and breached the companies’ contractual arrangement.…

thehill.com

Social media company Parler sued Amazon on Monday, alleging that its suspension from Amazon's hosting service violated antitrust law and breached the companies' contractual arrangement.

In its lawsuit, Parler, which is especially popular among conservatives, asked a federal judge to order that the platform be reinstated online.

The 18-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, accuses Amazon Web Services (AWS) of applying a politically motivated double standard to Parler in contrast to its treatment of the more mainstream social media giant Twitter.

"AWS's decision to effectively terminate Parler's account is apparently motivated by political animus," the lawsuit reads. "It is also apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter."

The Hill has reached out to Amazon for comment.

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[MasterYoshi]

Nah, let's not.

 

[Slayven]

Parler doesn't want discovery

 

[astro]

They refused to moderate calls to violence that went directly against the ToS.

Like, they actively refused to.

Good luck.

 

[Kthulhu]

I seriously doubt AWS would've given them the boot if they thought it would lead to any meaningful legal action. Probably gonna go nowhere.

 

[colorblindmode]

This feels like one of those things that Amazon will just wrap them in so much red tape that Parler will run out of money before they even know what happened.

 

[HammerOfThor]

"AWS's decision to effectively terminate Parler's account is apparently motivated by political animus," the lawsuit reads. "It is also apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter."

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Well yeah ya fuckin platformed a terrorist attack.

 

[Thunder11]

 

[BriGuy]

Does Amazon host or have a financial stake in Twitter? Does it even matter in this case?

 

[Fathead]

Wait, I can say that I hate gays and won't make a birthday cake but can't say I hate terrorism and not webhost a terrorist hotbed?
That's the argument parler is trying to make?

 

[onadesertedisland]

They violated TOS.

 

[Einbroch]

They'd maybe have a (non-legal) point in some world. But they've been up and running for two years and have had plenty of time to get their act together. It's also been shown that they not only let these ideas and posts exist, but actively encourage them.

Fuck 'em.

 

[DeltaRed]

I doubt most users will want to touch Parler if it was reinstated after the last 24 hours

 

[Walter White Walker]

That's one way to lose a lawsuit, I guess.
Also, I thought they just said yesterday their lawyers dropped them?

 

[Finale Fireworker]

These are definitely the actions of a platform with lots of opportunities elsewhere.

 

[VorpalNonsense]

parler here with the usual trumper playbook
it's only free speech when they're getting away with it
when it's someone elses free speech it doesn't count anymore
capitalism is great only when it's in your favor

 

[Metroidvania]

So....theoretically, even if this 'is' politically motivated (and ignoring the insurrection plots, other death threats, etc...)....why does that provide an impetus for the court to force AWS to re-instate Parler?

Am I missing something here regarding private service providers being forced to be non-discriminatory with regards to political affiliation?

 

[Bigg]

Parler broke Amazon's rules, and as a private company, Amazon is entitled to kicking people off their service for breaking their rules. Seems pretty open and shut to me.

That's why I haven't been swayed by the "this is a slippery slope to communist China!!!!!!!!" arguments. The reason this hasn't happened to other apps is because other apps aren't more or less designed to incite riots against the government. Yes, the fact that Amazon/Google/Apple have so much control over what gets surfaced online is upsetting, but this has been a problem for a decade and for some reason no one was taking it seriously until now.

 

[Deleted member 70788]

I'm sure they have zero qualified lawyers at Amazon that looked this over before making the decision. I'm very worried with Amazon's lack of resources they could lose.

 

[Alvis]

yes please, bleed money trying to go after amazon, google and apple

thanks for the self own

 

[rokkerkory]

Gluck with that lol

 

[DeltaRed]

it's only free speech when they're getting away with it
when it's someone elses free speech it doesn't count anymore
capitalism is great only when it's in your favor

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[Syriel]

Amazon will host just about anything you throw at it. You gotta mess up bad to get kicked off for ToS violations.

Encouraging insurrection would do it.

 

[Josh378]

Shouldn't the owners of the website should be thinking about the FBI not taking them into custody in the near future? I thought that a hacker got 70GB with of metadata files from the website/app. I'm sure the FBI will find that interesting...

 

[LGHT_TRSN]

Does Amazon host or have a financial stake in Twitter? Does it even matter in this case?

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It shouldn't matter. This is an issue of violating ToS, not anti-competitive practices.

 

[Morrigan]

Parler broke Amazon's rules, and as a private company, Amazon is entitled to kicking people off their service for breaking their rules. Seems pretty open and shut to me.

That's why I haven't been swayed by the "this is a slippery slope to communist China!!!!!!!!" arguments. The reason this hasn't happened to other apps is because other apps aren't more or less designed to incite riots against the government. Yes, the fact that Amazon/Google/Apple have so much control over what gets surfaced online is upsetting, but this has been a problem for a decade and for some reason no one was taking it seriously until now.

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All of this.

 

[Alavard]

I'm sure they have zero qualified lawyers at Amazon that looked this over before making the decision. I'm very worried with Amazon's lack of resources they could lose.

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And on the flip side, the Parler CEO already admitted all their lawyers left and won't do business with them anymore

 

[RolandGunner]

Amazon's ToS are notoriously ironclad. That has like a .01% chance of succeeding.

 

[JayCB64]

lol why would Amazon give a fuck about Twitter? What a strange thing and irrelevant talking point to throw in to their statement.

 

[Ouroboros]

Haha. I needed a good joke on a monday.

 

[Squarehard]

Considering all of their previous lawyers have jumped ship, the one representing them now is probably Lin Wood or Sydney Powell like...or they are Lin Wood and Sydney Powell.

Also, a 18-page lawsuit filed against Amazon is more like the meet the author flap on a book. Not exactly going to cut it...

 

[pillowtalk]

Parler should ask its users to donate to their gofundme lawsuit fund.

 

[Biggzy]

So....theoretically, even if this 'is' politically motivated (and ignoring the insurrection plots, other death threats, etc...)....why does that provide an impetus for the court to force AWS to re-instate Parler?

Am I missing something here regarding private service providers being forced to be non-discriminatory with regards to political affiliation?

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I am not a lawyer obviously, but I don't think the first point has any basis because political affiliation, as far as I am aware, is not a protected status like gender, religion etc.

 

[Captain Smoker]

 

[Faenix1]

I assume this is a sign it's going to take a lot more work than they expected to get back "within a week"? lol

 

[oledome]

After that data breach what savvy Nazi is going to want to use it anyway?

 

[Dekuman]

I wonder what's contained in those AWS servers and what sort of seditious activites may be uncovered if they really push this and Amazon has to show evidence they broke laws/was inciting violence on their platform.

 

[astro]

After that data breach what savvy Nazi is going to want to use it anyway?

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"savvy nazi"

I've seen this attempted, at least.

 

[ryan299]

Funny thing is apple and google booting them helps the case against those two being monopolistic in the mobile market.
Not that anybody is going to use Parler as an example lol

 

[Tbm24]

That's the way to flush whatever money he did make make from Parler down the toilet.

 

[Lobster Roll]

lol good luck in court.

 

[Kumquat]

And on the flip side, the Parler CEO already admitted all their lawyers left and won't do business with them anymore

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Maybe, but they can get the dream team of Lin Wood, Rudy G, and the Kraken herself, Sidney Powel! Checkmate Democrats!

 

[Soriku]

lol why would Amazon give a fuck about Twitter? What a strange thing and irrelevant talking point to throw in to their statement.

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Sounds like they're scrounging for ammo there.

 

[Raxus]

I can't believe the leopards are eating my face.

 

[Instant Vintage]

Amazon's ToS are notoriously ironclad. That has like a .01% chance of succeeding.

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With a .01% margin of error.

Amazon probably has enough resources to build a building in nothing but red tape.

It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em.

 

[subpar spatula]

It won't work.

Hopefully, though, people will start being more vocal about certain sites especially Twitter and Facebook and push to have their feet put to the flames too.

 

[JohnsonUT]

There is a legitimate anti-trust argument to be made against both Amazon the online store and the AWS platform. Unfortunately for Parlor, facing consequences for aiding and abetting nazis and insurrectionists is not a very strong argument.

 

[marathonfool]

Regarding anti-trust, cloud infrastructure services is actually more competitive than telecom and aviation. Everything else will be tossed out due to violation of terms of service.

 

[SquirrelSr]

I want to see how they defend letting people post about extrajudicially executing the Vice President of the United States.

 

[cakely]

Thank you, gay wedding cakes.