New York (AFP)

After Google and Apple, Amazon plans to cut ties with Parler, the popular social network for supporters of Donald Trump but also accused of relaying threats of violence, which should make the platform temporarily inaccessible.

In a letter to the conservative site, Amazon says it has "recently observed a persistent increase in violent content."

"Given the unfortunate events that have occurred this week in Washington, there is a serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence," he added in the letter, first published by BuzzFeed and whose content was confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson.

Talking has become a refuge for some Internet users ulcerated by the moderation policy of mainstream networks like Twitter, which permanently closed Donald Trump's account on Friday.

Messages of support for the rioters who burst into the Capitol on Wednesday flourished there, while others call for new demonstrations.

Amazon has therefore decided to suspend Parler's account from January 10 at 11:59 a.m. EST (0800 GMT Monday).

As the group hosts Parler's data on its cloud service, this should at least temporarily prevent the social network from functioning.

- "Coordinated effort" -

The founder of Parler, John Matz, confirmed on his profile that it was "possible that the social network is not accessible on the internet for up to a week".

"We will do everything to find a new supplier quickly," he added.

Google and Apple have already removed Parler from their respective app download platforms.

These decisions, however, had lesser consequences: they made it more difficult to access the Speak application on mobile devices, but subscribers can still access it if they have already downloaded it or go directly to the internet.

To justify its decision on Friday, Google had mentioned the presence of messages "inciting violence.

Apple followed suit on Saturday by regretting the "proliferation" of "threats of violence and illegal activity".

"Amazon, Google and Apple did this in a coordinated effort knowing that our options would be limited and that it would inflict as much damage on us as President Trump is banned by tech companies," lamented the boss. to speak.

On Saturday, its app was the most downloaded on the App Store before it was suspended.

Many fans of the US president have indeed flocked to conservative platforms such as Parler or Gab following the decision taken by Twitter to permanently close Donald Trump's account.

Other mainstream networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch have also suspended the profile of the tenant of the White House after the events of Wednesday.

John Matze also regretted that Apple banned the social network "until we abandon freedom of expression, that we put in place very broad and invasive (moderation) policies like Twitter and Facebook and that we became a surveillance platform by judging in advance the users of Parler.

The social network Parler was especially at its beginnings in 2018 the prerogative of extremist fringes.

But he's now attracting more traditional conservative voices, including Republican parliamentarians

Like other alternative platforms, Parler regulates disinformation and hate speech less than established networks.

© 2021 AFP