OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP
- On Friday, January 9, social media site Parler shot to number 1 on the App Store. By Monday, Parler went dark after getting booted by Amazon’s web hosting platform.
- Parler experienced a tumultuous 48 period between Saturday morning and Sunday evening, during which CEO John Matze criticized Google’s decision to ban the app and fought with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
- “Parler is not a surveillance app, so we can’t just write a few algorithms that will quickly locate 100% of objectionable content,” Matze said in a statement Sunday evening. “But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been effective. Up until Friday afternoon, it seemed that Apple, Amazon, and Google agreed.”
- Here’s a breakdown of the tense 48-hours between Parler and large tech firms.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Social media site Parler had tumultuous weekend following a far-right mob’s violent siege of the US Capitol.
After Twitter suspended President Donald Trump’s account permanently for his role inciting violence that led to the insurrection, many right-wing influencers encouraged followers to head to the social media site Parler.
Parler, which allows users to post status updates and share articles similar to Twitter, jumped to the top of the App Store until getting removed by Apple. Google and Amazon booted Parler from using their platforms as well.
Parler CEO John Matze said the site does not condone violence, and has had difficulty removing prohibited content because it doesn’t “harvest and abuse” personal data.
"Parler is not a surveillance app, so we can't just write a few algorithms that will quickly locate 100% of objectionable content, especially during periods of rapid growth and the seemingly coordinated malicious attacks that accompany that growth," Matze said in a statement Sunday evening. "But that doesn't mean we haven't been effective. Up until Friday afternoon, it seemed that Apple, Amazon, and Google agreed."
Here's a timeline of the weekend that disrupted Parler's connection with large tech firms. (Exact times are based on news reports.)
Friday, January 8
11:59 p.m.: Parler jumped to No. 1 on the App Store hours after Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account, Tech Crunch reported. Sensor Tower told Tech Crunch Parler saw 210,000 installs globally on Friday, January 8, up 281% from approximately 55,000 on January 7.
Saturday, January 9
1:55 a.m.: Amazon Employees For Climate Justice, an activist group of Amazon workers, sent a tweet demanding the company remove Parler from its web hosting service. "As Amazon workers, we demand Amazon deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration," the tweet read. "We cannot be complicit in more bloodshed and violent attacks on our democracy.
5:45 a.m.: Matze, Parler's CEO, criticized Google's decision to ban the app. "If they actually cared, they would try to help. Not dump the app and send a break up public statement. What a horrible way to handle this," Matze wrote on Parler.
8 p.m.: Apple banned Parler from the app store for failing to curtail the proliferation of violence and illegal activity on the platform. The tech firm gave Parler a 24-hour warning to address policy violations. Google had banned Parler the day prior.
10 p.m.: Amazon announced it would suspend Parler from AWS for violating the terms of service due to an increase in violent content. The suspension would go into effect Sunday night.
—Amazon Employees For Climate Justice (@AMZNforClimate) January 10, 2021
Sunday, January 10
12:26 a.m.: After spending days as the most-downloaded app, Parler disappeared from the App Store's top charts. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a photo of the new top app with a "heart emoji." Matze responded to Dorsey with a Parler post that read: "Yeah, we were number one until the fake news rage mob at Twitter and your anti-competitive friends went after us. That's real cute."
11:59 p.m.: Parler went offline after failing to find another web host after Amazon's suspension went into effect. Matze told Fox News the platform would "get back online as quickly as possible," and that the site could be down for up to a week.
The social media network will likely stick around, as Parler may find another web provider to host its service, Insider's Andrew Dunn reported. Gab, another social media site used by the far-right, and 8kun, the message board used by extremists, are hosted on Epik.