Amazon can keep Parler offline, judge rules

Amazon can keep the cloud-services account of conservative-friendly social network Parler offline, a federal judge in Seattle ruled Thursday.

Amazon’s cloud-computing division booted Parler from its servers Jan. 11 due to what the Seattle tech giant said was an increase in violent content on the social media app, which has a primarily right-wing userbase. Parler immediately sued Amazon to restore its access to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the arm of the company that offers the digital infrastructure powering much online activity.

Thursday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein sided with Amazon, arguing in part that forcing the Seattle tech giant to get Parler back online goes against the public interest, given “the kind of abusive, violent content at issue in this case, particularly in light of the recent riots at the U.S. Capitol.”

“That event was a tragic reminder that inflammatory rhetoric can — more swiftly and easily than many of us would have hoped — turn a lawful protest into a violent insurrection,” she wrote. “The Court rejects any suggestion that the public interest favors requiring AWS to host the incendiary speech that the record shows some of Parler’s users have engaged in.”

In a hearing in the case last week, Amazon’s attorney cautioned against moving quickly to get Parler back online, saying the social network was unable and unwilling to moderate abusive content.