A federal judge has denied Parler’s request for a preliminary injunction that would restore service on Amazon’s web hosting platform. This comes after Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that it was wrongfully booted from the service.
Judge Strikes Down Parler’s Case
US District Judge Barbara Rothstein isn’t going to force Amazon to put Parler back on its servers. In the official court document, Rothstein stated that while “the Court is not dismissing Parler’s substantive underlying claims,” Parler “failed to allege basic facts.”
Amazon Web Services (AWS) kicked Parler off of its servers following the riots at Capitol Hill. Parler’s promise of free speech and minimal moderation attracted a surge of political conservatives, and Amazon felt that the lack of moderation “will incite further violence.”
Parler responded by taking Amazon to court. The platform sought a preliminary injunction that would allow the site to be reinstated on Amazon’s servers.
It accused Amazon of working with Twitter, stating that Amazon dropped Parler “to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”
However, Judge Rothstein found that “Parler has submitted no evidence that AWS and Twitter acted together intentionally.” She also noted that “the claim is both dwindlingly slight, and disputed by AWS.”
Parler also didn’t deny the fact that violent content was posted on the platform following the January 6, 2021 riots. Amazon stated that it received numerous reports about violent content on Parler, which violates its Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The AUP clearly prohibits content that’s “illegal, harmful, or offensive.”
Amazon alleges that it ”repeatedly communicated with Parler its concerns about third-party content” that went against its policies. According to Amazon, “Parler failed to respond to those concerns in a timely or adequate manner.”
This sequence of events resulted in Parler’s removal from AWS. Google and Apple also kicked Parler off mobile app stores, making it completely inaccessible to all users.
Parler Remains Unusable… For Now
Parler may have been denied a preliminary injunction, but that doesn’t mean that it’s giving up. The platform has already made its return to the internet via the Russian web host, Epik.
If you navigate to the Parler, you’ll come across a single web page that displays a message from several Parler supporters, as well as the Parler CEO, John Matze.
The messages imply that Parler isn’t giving up without a fight, and that it will be up and running soon. The site also contains a response to Rothstein’s ruling, stating that “this litigation is still in its early stages and that the resolution of this case will have broad implications for our pluralistic society.”
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