In what has become a rocky point, Seattle-based Amazon.com, Inc. has asked a federal judge to deny a request to reinstate the cloud-service account for conservative social media network Parler, claiming Parler shrugged off police violence content on its site before and after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
This claim was made by Amazon’s lawyers, just a day after Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon claiming a breach of contract and antitrust violation after its account was suspended and effectively removed from the internet, reports said.
The complaint had in the lawsuit claimed that Amazon colluded with Twitter to “kill Parler’s business — at the very time it is set to skyrocket”.
In their statement, Amazon’s attorneys, Ambika Doran and Alonzo Wickers, averred that there was no merit to Parler’s claims and that the case centred on Parler’s “demonstrated unwillingness” to remove content that threatens public safety.
Delineating on its position, Amazon argued that the lack of content moderation led to a “steady increase” in violent content, a violation of its terms of service.
According to the report, Amazon noted that Parler contracted with the company in 2018 and agreed not to host harmful content, adding that Amazon also notified Parler that it retained the right to suspend accounts immediately if they breach Amazon’s terms of service.
In what was touted by the then President Donald Trump, Amazon claimed a conspiracy theory that the election was fraudulent and the results needed to be overturned were spread on Parler and contributed to the siege on the Capitol where five people died, a development that prompted Social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter suspended thousands of accounts linked to the events on Jan. 6.
