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Parler CEO claims he has received death threats amid platform shutdown, rips Big Tech for kowtowing to Democrats
Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

Parler CEO claims he has received death threats amid platform shutdown, rips Big Tech for kowtowing to Democrats

He said there was 'no prior warning'

Parler CEO John Matze said this week that he has been facing death threats in the days following his platform shutdown.

He also said that the de-platforming is nothing short of unconstitutional, and that technology companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google are kowtowing to Democrat demands.

What's a brief history here?

Between Friday and Saturday, Google and Apple removed Parler from its app stores.

A day later, Amazon Web Services suspended the social media network's web hosting abilities, citing the company's reported refusal to remove inciting content shared by its users, which it said ultimately resulted in contributing to last week's deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Parler filed a lawsuit on Monday that accused Amazon Web Services of breaching its contract and the violation of an antitrust law over the move.

Amazon Web Services said in response that it warned the site about user posts repeatedly, but to no avail.

"People have acted on these calls: Parler was used to incite, organize, and coordinate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol," Amazon Web Services said Tuesday in its court filing on the suit.

What are the details?

According to a Tuesday report from Newsweek, Matze revealed that he heard through news headlines that Apple, Google, and Amazon all had a hand in shuttering his web application, prohibiting users from downloading, logging on, or even viewing the social media site.

Matze told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday that he is now receiving death threats.

"People are threatening my life," he said. "I can't go home tonight. This is really a lot. This is not just our civil liberties. [Big Tech] can shut down a billion-dollar company, half-a-billion dollar company, overnight."

He did not specify the threats he purportedly received.

According to the outlet, Matze also said that he never thought the tech giants would actually shut down such a site.

"I've theorized about it, we've definitely theorized about it," he said. "You just never think it will happen though. What's really interesting is that they all did it on the same day, those three, without any prior warning."

He added that there is varying reactions to the site's shutdown, but there are many people who are "egging it on and cheering."

"I have seen a lot of people say this is scary, but I've seen a lot of people who are participating in the five minutes of hate and egging it on and cheering," Matze said. "It is disgusting."

A spokesperson for Google told the outlet that the app will remain absent from the Google Play store until the application addresses the speech issues.

"We're aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.," the statement began. "We recognize that there can be reasonable debate about content policies, and that it can be difficult for apps to immediately remove all violative content, but for us to distribute an app through Google Play we do require that apps implement robust moderation for egregious content."

The statement continued, "In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app's listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues."

Parler CEO tells Tucker they are fighting for survival after mass Big Tech ban - 2021.01.12www.youtube.com

Anything else?

Matze said that he believes the site will be operational again "one day."

"We will be back up eventually because we're not going to give up," he insisted. "But soon is difficult. I thought immediately, 'No problem, I'll call up a new vendor.' We call up the vendor, we're all good to go, and then right at the last second, 'Sorry, somebody said something and we can't host you. 'Bye.' And it's been that one after another since then. Right at the last minute they just bail. We're going to do it. We're going to be back online one day, and hopefully soon, as soon as possible. But this is a real challenge. We have to build our own infrastructure, our own everything, in order to do it."

In an interview published Tuesday, Matze said that the suspension is nothing short of unconstitutional.

"I think it's sick," he said. "That's not what the Constitution said. That's not what the Constitution stands for, banning 10-plus million US voters from the internet, barring people from free speech."

He also said that tech companies are simply placating Democrats who are looking for a finger to point after the Capitol riots.

Fox News reported, "[Rep. Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), recently urged Apple and Google to take action against Parler, in a tweet the leader of the so-called 'Squad' of progressives sent to her 11.4 million followers. Ocasio-Cortez isn't alone. Many people on the left have made similar complaints."

Of the complaints, Matze said, "Frankly, I would call it evil, because my definition of evil is 'forcing your will upon others.' If you don't like what I have to say, you can disagree with me, but you cannot take vindictive action against me without being evil."

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