Parler launched in 2018 as a freewheeling social-media site for users fed up with the rules on Facebook and Twitter , and it quickly won fans from supporters of President Trump. On Monday, it went dark, felled by blowback over its more permissive approach.
Amazon.com Inc. abruptly ended web-hosting services to the company, effectively halting its operations, prompting Parler to sue Amazon in Seattle federal court. Other tech partners also acted, crippling operations.
Driving the decision was last week’s mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. On the afternoon of the riot, Amazon warned executives from Parler it had received reports the social-media platform was hosting “inappropriate” content, and that Parler had 24 hours to address it.
“We have been appropriately addressing this type of content and actively working with law enforcement for weeks now,” Parler policy chief Amy Peikoff told Amazon a few hours later in an email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon wrote back Thursday: “Please consider it resolved.” The email gave Parler executives confidence that their moderation system, however strained, was acceptable to its tech partner.
