Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, pictured on September 13, 2018.
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A group of Amazon employees are urging the company to stop providing cloud services to Parler, a social media app popular with Trump supporters.
In a tweet, the group of employees of climate justice employees said that Amazon Web Services “should deny Parler services until they remove posts that incite violence, also during the presidential inauguration.” AWS provides cloud services to Parler hosting its website.
Representatives from Amazon and Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There has been increasing pressure on Amazon to stop Parler on AWS after other technology giants took action against the social media app following the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol earlier this week. Google removed Parler on Friday from its app store for Android users, Google Play Store. BuzzFeed News reported Friday that Apple has threatened to remove Parler from its App Store.
Launched in 2018, Parler has emerged over the past year as a popular platform for President Trump’s allies, citing himself as an alternative to speechless factors for social media services such as Twitter and Facebook.
Screenshots of the Parler app seen by CNBC show users posting references to shooting groups, as well as calls to bring weapons to the presidential inauguration later this month. AWS’s Acceptable Use Policy states that it prohibits customers from using its services “for any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or offensive use.”
Amazon had earlier severed ties with customers who violated the rules. In 2019, Amazon pulled the plug on a fundraising site used by Gab, a social media site that serves conservatives, after violating Amazon’s hate content policy.
The employee group, AECJ, has had some success in the past in making its claims heard. Last April, the group hosted an ‘online outing’ to protest the company’s labor practices. In addition, the group is widely credited with influencing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to announce a comprehensive climate change plan after the group called for change at the company’s shareholders’ meeting in 2019.
– CNIF’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.