Amazon's decision to boot conservative chat site Parler from its hosting platform, on the heels of Twitter and many other services banishing President Trump, brings three decades of hot argument over online speech to a boil.
Why it matters: Four years of a president who behaved like a boundary-pushing online troll, fostering mayhem that culminated in Wednesday's assault on the Capitol, finally forced the executives who control today's internet to draw lines.
Amazon has told Parler, a social media app that's become popular among conservatives and far-right extremists, that it would be cut off from its Amazon Web Services hosting by midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, BuzzFeed first reported and Amazon confirmed to Axios.
Driving the news: Earlier Saturday, Apple said it had suspended Parler from its App Store. Both companies cited concerns over threats of violence and inadequate content moderation on the service.
Google has pulled Parler, a social media app for conservatives and far-right extremists, from its app store for not taking stronger action to remove posts that seek "to incite ongoing violence" in the U.S.
Driving the news: For weeks prior to Wednesday's deadly siege on the Capitol, far-right Trump supporters discussed the idea of a violent protest in D.C. on various social media and chat platforms, including Parler.
Apple on Friday morning demanded that Parler, a social media app favored by conservatives and far-right extremists, submit a “moderation improvement plan” within 24 hours or face removal from the app store, BuzzFeed reports.
Driving the news: In a letter to Parler executives, Apple said it had received several complaints that the app had been used to help plan and facilitate Wednesday's deadly siege on the Capitol by supporters of President Trump.
