The Talk app on an iPhone (illustration).

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Jaap Arriens / Sipa USA / SIPA

Talking will have to find a new host.

A US federal judge on Thursday rejected a request from the social network that would have forced Amazon to once again host the platform popular with supporters of Donald Trump on its servers.

Amazon disconnected Parler after the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill in Washington, stormed by supporters of the former US president, arguing that the platform had allowed numerous messages of incitement to violence to be disseminated without real moderation.

Apple and Google have removed the app from their download platforms for the same reasons.

Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein ruled that Parler had failed to prove the need for a preliminary injunction that would have forced Amazon to restore access to the social network.

However, legal proceedings initiated by Parler may continue.

No infringement of freedom of expression

While she recognized the possibility of financial loss to the network, Justice Rothstein wrote in her ruling that Amazon Web Services (AWS) had "convincingly argued that the obligation to host violent content Parler users interfered with AWS's ability to prevent its services from being used to promote - or, as the events of January 6, 2021 demonstrated, to provoke - violence.

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The judge also recalled that the proceedings did not relate to an infringement of freedom of expression, protected by the American Constitution, because Amazon was a private company and not a government entity.

Elected woman asks FBI to investigate

Speaking is also the object of the attention of the American political class.

The chairman of a parliamentary committee on Thursday asked the FBI to investigate the role played by the network in the invasion of the Capitol.

FBI must determine if Parler "facilitated the planning and encouragement of violence", if it "harbors key user-published evidence" and if it could "have been used by foreign governments that may fund unrest. civilians in the United States, ”wrote Carolyn Maloney, Democratic chair of the House of Representatives committee of inquiry.

In her letter she also asks the director of the FBI to examine the company's finances and its ties to Russia.

Talking is in particular in business with the Russian company DDos-Guard, according to a statement sent Tuesday to AFP by the latter.

The Russian group, however, did not specify the nature of these services.

Russian host

The conservative social network has stopped working since Amazon banned it from using its computer servers, but it has partially "reappeared thanks to Russian hosting services," said the commission's statement.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol and halted Congress' certification of Joe Biden's victory.

"Many users of Parler have been arrested and charged with threatening elected officials or for their participation in the attack," the statement said.

The event made traditional social networks take drastic measures, accused of having served as a base for fans of Donald Trump.

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