After Being Banned from Google, Apple, and Amazon, Parler May Be Forced Offline

Many experts expected President Trump to join the alternative social media platform.

By Abigail Covington*

Update (Saturday 1/9/2021, 11:25 pm EST): Parler CEO John Matze announced that on Sunday, Amazon will suspend Parler from using its cloud hosting service Amazon Web Services. The suspension means that Parler will be unable to operate unless it can quickly find another hosting service. “There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch,” wrote Matze on his Parler page.

Late on Friday night, Twitter announced the banning of Donald Trump’s account. The move came after other major social network platforms including Facebook and Instagram announced a similar ban. But for the past few months, a slew of new alternative social media platforms favored by Trump’s base have been experiencing massive growth in popularity, according to The New York Times.

One such app is Parler, which bills itself as a haven for free speech enthusiasts and has been attracting high-profile conservatives since its launch in 2018. Sen. Ted Cruz has a Parler profile, asdo Fox News stars like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys and Kirstie Alley. The new tweet du jour among conservatives is “follow me on Parler.” The app currently boasts more than 10 million active users, and, according to Techcrunch, Parler was the number one download in Apple’s app store on Friday.

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