The conservative social network Parler lodged a complaint, Monday, January 11, against Amazon, which kicked it de facto from the Internet by cutting access to its data hosting servers because of the persistence of messages inciting to violence after the assault on the Capitol. 

Parler, who believes that this decision is motivated by political reasons and by the desire to reduce competition to the benefit of Twitter, is asking the court to pronounce a temporary order against Amazon by forcing the group to reopen its servers. 

Amazon announced over the weekend that it would suspend Parler's account from 8 am GMT on Monday, explaining in a letter to the conservative site that it "recently observed a persistent increase in violent content." 

The tech giants Apple and Google had previously withdrawn from their application download platforms the social network where, according to them, "threats of violence" and "illegal activities" proliferated. 

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, site co-founder John Matze admitted that getting the site up and running could take time.

"All our partners, those who manage the texts, emails, our lawyers, let us down the same day," he lamented. 

"We're going to do everything we can to get back online as quickly as possible, but all the suppliers we contact tell us that they don't want to work with us if Apple or Google doesn't approve," he said. -he explains.

And it is difficult to find "300 to 500 computer servers in 24 hours". 

John Matze on Saturday accused the web giants of waging a "war against freedom of expression".

"They will NOT win! We are the world's last hope for free speech and free information," he said. 

In the aftermath of Twitter's decision to permanently delete Donald Trump's account, Parler was still the most downloaded application in the United States on the Apple platform on Saturday.  

Launched in 2018, the social network works a bit like Twitter, with profiles to follow and "parlys" instead of tweets.

Freedom of expression is its leitmotif. 

Based in Henderson, Nevada, Parler was started by John Matze, a computer engineer, and Rebekah Mercer, a major donor to the Republican Party.  

A growing network 

The platform attracted especially at its beginnings ultra-conservative fringes, even extreme-right.

But it also recently welcomed more traditional Republican voices. 

Already in full swing, the application had welcomed in recent days many new subscribers ulcerated by Twitter's decision to ban Donald Trump. 

Other mainstream networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Twitch have also suspended the profile of the tenant of the White House. 

Many fans of the US president have flocked to conservative platforms like Parler or Gab. 

Now that the tech giants have made it clear that they will crack down on sites and apps that continue to relay extreme messages, conservative social media are likely to have to adjust. 

The live video service DLive, used by several protesters during the Capitol invasion on Wednesday, has banned seven channels and removed more than 100 videos from its site. 

Some might choose to do as another popular ultra-conservative social network, Gab.  

The platform was particularly controversial in 2018, when it was discovered that the author of a shooting which had killed 11 in a synagogue in Pittsburgh had posted many anti-Semitic messages there. 

Already junk at Apple and Google, Gab has set up his own servers so as not to depend on outside companies. 

With AFP

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