Big-Tech's Coordinated Attack: Amazon shuts down Parler's servers to Eliminate Any Conservative Voices On-Line- It's A Political CONSPIRACY Against 75 Million Americans
Posted by freedomforall 4 years, 3 months ago to Politics
"Update (2210 ET): Parler CEO John Matze has issued a statement (emphasis ours):
Sunday (tomorrow) at midnight Amazon will be shutting off all of our servers in an attempt to completely remove free speech off the internet. There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch. We prepared for events like this by never relying on amazons proprietary infrastructure and building bare metal products.
We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business, however Amazon, Google and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.
This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place. We were too successful too fast. You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out.
#speakfreely
*
Update (2130 ET): And so the hammer has come down late on Saturday, when Amazon officially kicked Parler off its cloud Web hosting service, AWS according to Buzzfeed. The suspension means that once the ban takes effect on Sunday, the website - which as of this moment is still up - will be offline until it finds someone else to host it.
*
Update (2100 ET): As expected, Apple removed Parler permanently from its app store on Saturday. "[T]here is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity," the iPhone maker said, according to CNN which adds that Apple notified Parler of its decision in a message that said it had violated the company's app store terms.
"The processes Parler has put in place to moderate or prevent the spread of dangerous and illegal content have proved insufficient," Apple told Parler. "Specifically, we have continued to find direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless action in violation of Guideline 1.1 - Safety - Objectionable Content."
Apple's notice said Parler's responses to an earlier warning were inadequate, including Parler's defense that it had been taking violent rhetoric on its platform "very seriously for weeks" and that it had a moderation plan "for the time being," according to Apple.
A search for the Parler app as of 8pm showed that the app was no longer there, with the search query returning recommended substitutes.
A coalition of Amazon corporate employees have demanded that the Seattle-based megacorp kick Parler off the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform unless 'posts inciting violence' are removed, which would force the Trump-friendly Twitter competitor to find another host.
According to CNBC, an employee advocacy group - Amazon Employees for Climate Justice - said in a Saturday tweet that AWS should "deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration."
Enough is enough. Amazon hosts Parler on @awscloud.
As Amazon workers, we demand Amazon deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration.
We cannot be complicit in more bloodshed and violent attacks on our democracy.
— Amazon Employees For Climate Justice (@AMZNforClimate) January 9, 2021
More via CNBC:
Pressure has been mounting for Amazon to stop hosting Parler on AWS after other tech giants took action against the social media app in the wake of the deadly U.S. Capitol riot earlier this week. Google on Friday removed Parler from its app store for Android users, Google Play Store. BuzzFeed News reported on Friday that Apple has threatened to pull Parler from its App Store.
Parler, which launched in 2018, has emerged as a popular platform for President Trump’s allies in the last year by billing itself as a free speech alternative to mainstream social media services like Twitter and Facebook. -CNBC
In 2019, Amazon pulled the plug on their AWS partnership with Twitter alternative GAB over user posts. CEO Andrew Torba essentially blamed the CIA - claiming that a "PSYOP campaign started back in early December" in which newly created accounts were "popping up out of nowhere and making threats of violence."
Torba's letter continues:
After this week, it's clear why this PSYOP was started: to take down alt-tech platforms and frame them for the January 6th protests that ended with the police killing an unarmed woman.
Almost instantly after police allowed protestors into the Capitol the New York Times started a baseless narrative that this protest was organized on alt-tech sites, and in particular on Gab, without offering any proof, screenshots, usernames, or evidence to back these baseless claims. I've recorded a video highlighting how this all played out. I hope you'll take some time to watch it to learn how the CIA Mockingbird Media complex operates. The way we fight back is with truth and by speaking truth to their power, which is quickly fading."
Sunday (tomorrow) at midnight Amazon will be shutting off all of our servers in an attempt to completely remove free speech off the internet. There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch. We prepared for events like this by never relying on amazons proprietary infrastructure and building bare metal products.
We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business, however Amazon, Google and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.
This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place. We were too successful too fast. You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don’t count us out.
#speakfreely
*
Update (2130 ET): And so the hammer has come down late on Saturday, when Amazon officially kicked Parler off its cloud Web hosting service, AWS according to Buzzfeed. The suspension means that once the ban takes effect on Sunday, the website - which as of this moment is still up - will be offline until it finds someone else to host it.
*
Update (2100 ET): As expected, Apple removed Parler permanently from its app store on Saturday. "[T]here is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity," the iPhone maker said, according to CNN which adds that Apple notified Parler of its decision in a message that said it had violated the company's app store terms.
"The processes Parler has put in place to moderate or prevent the spread of dangerous and illegal content have proved insufficient," Apple told Parler. "Specifically, we have continued to find direct threats of violence and calls to incite lawless action in violation of Guideline 1.1 - Safety - Objectionable Content."
Apple's notice said Parler's responses to an earlier warning were inadequate, including Parler's defense that it had been taking violent rhetoric on its platform "very seriously for weeks" and that it had a moderation plan "for the time being," according to Apple.
A search for the Parler app as of 8pm showed that the app was no longer there, with the search query returning recommended substitutes.
A coalition of Amazon corporate employees have demanded that the Seattle-based megacorp kick Parler off the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform unless 'posts inciting violence' are removed, which would force the Trump-friendly Twitter competitor to find another host.
According to CNBC, an employee advocacy group - Amazon Employees for Climate Justice - said in a Saturday tweet that AWS should "deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration."
Enough is enough. Amazon hosts Parler on @awscloud.
As Amazon workers, we demand Amazon deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration.
We cannot be complicit in more bloodshed and violent attacks on our democracy.
— Amazon Employees For Climate Justice (@AMZNforClimate) January 9, 2021
More via CNBC:
Pressure has been mounting for Amazon to stop hosting Parler on AWS after other tech giants took action against the social media app in the wake of the deadly U.S. Capitol riot earlier this week. Google on Friday removed Parler from its app store for Android users, Google Play Store. BuzzFeed News reported on Friday that Apple has threatened to pull Parler from its App Store.
Parler, which launched in 2018, has emerged as a popular platform for President Trump’s allies in the last year by billing itself as a free speech alternative to mainstream social media services like Twitter and Facebook. -CNBC
In 2019, Amazon pulled the plug on their AWS partnership with Twitter alternative GAB over user posts. CEO Andrew Torba essentially blamed the CIA - claiming that a "PSYOP campaign started back in early December" in which newly created accounts were "popping up out of nowhere and making threats of violence."
Torba's letter continues:
After this week, it's clear why this PSYOP was started: to take down alt-tech platforms and frame them for the January 6th protests that ended with the police killing an unarmed woman.
Almost instantly after police allowed protestors into the Capitol the New York Times started a baseless narrative that this protest was organized on alt-tech sites, and in particular on Gab, without offering any proof, screenshots, usernames, or evidence to back these baseless claims. I've recorded a video highlighting how this all played out. I hope you'll take some time to watch it to learn how the CIA Mockingbird Media complex operates. The way we fight back is with truth and by speaking truth to their power, which is quickly fading."
A conspiracy? There may not be emails and phone calls saying, let us do this.. it is like minded monopolists/oligarchs picking up hints by watching each other and acting in unison.
What to do?
Do not bother to inform the oligarchs and their flunkies of your dislike
Actively find alternatives if you use that sort of thing
If people/businesses in your circle use them, inform them of why they should not and present alternatives.
There may be legal remedies to support: publisher/platform, ..
Amazon
Google
Apple
Microsoft
Youtube
Twitter
Walmart
Target
ABC
NBC
CBS
CNN
Netflix
NYT
WSJ
WaPo
Sony
Disney
All Hollywood movie productions
All of Wall St - Sell All Shares of stock of enemy companies
Trader Joes
Boycott every business who supports reverse discrimination or doesn't support a Verified Recount Of Legal Votes Only.
Only do business with local small businesses.
Avoid products made in China.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/some-co...
Airbnb
Amazon
(ANTI) American Express
AT&T
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Commerce Bank
Dow Chemical
Marriott
Mastercard
I kind of have a feeling like the kids from the movie Red Dawn, when I have to go into town for supplies....Really hope that that doesn't become a prophetic statement.
I predict that Parler will be down for a month or two and then come right back up again with a more robust supply chain, just as Gab did.
I also predict that the media smears against everyone on the right will continue to escalate. That's what big media do.
And individual "woke" people are going to try to get you and me kicked out of jobs and off platforms. Create accounts under pseudonyms if you don't already have them, and protect them from leaks.
As for legal remedies such as anti-trust -- they may be available but I would not trust that they'll be there, especially once Biden starts getting his cabinet appointments approved.
Biden's people have also announced a "second Patriot Act" and restrictions on "spreading disinformation" which may make it harder for alt-tech networks to exist. That's grossly unconstitutional but it will take a while to challenge them. That is where the existence of well funded allies like Parler will help us a lot. Forget about help from traditional civil rights organizations, they have all gone over to the enemy.
This comment is lengthy because the problem is broad and we are under attack by multiple methods and need to defend against all of them.
Payment processing is a bigger vulnerability and one that will only get worse under a Biden administration.
Then there are the (up to now) right-wing media, some of which are already betraying their customer base. For instance:
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2021/01/th...
But who's going to file it? Parler had the bad sense to use outside counsel instead of building their own legal department.
More than that, I'd say what we now need to build is a liberty-friendly public-advocacy group, ready to file such cases.
In the meantime, Gab is having growing pains, though they have upgraded their servers.
Twitter and Facebook both saw their stocks decline precipitously in trading today.
By the way: Twitter is another Amazon Web Services customer. So a conflict of interest might exist.
Change Section 230 protections:
a. If you censor your social media and deny freedom of speech on your private system, clearly you are monitoring, and as such are not indemnified by 230.
b. If you allow complete freedom of speech on your private system (except clearly illegal e.g. copyrighted), you are indemnified.
However, we just argue yes/no without the clear issue at hand. Now there is no chance for such a proposal to pass.
I propose a more modest change: put teeth in the existing "good faith" clause of Section 230 by spelling out that 230 does not give forum owners the right to break their promises (such as banning someone for conduct the company's Terms of Service don't forbid, or lying about why) and does not legalize deceptive practices such as shadowbanning.
Meanwhile I'd make it easier to sue for (1) monopolistic behavior such as the Visa blacklist and (2) misuse of your personal information or deception about it, as now practiced by Facebook and Google.
Why do we need Section 230 protection for this site? Do you think it could/would be sued into bankruptcy?
Those later misuses should be pursued as anti-trust, RICO and/or libel.
Gab is running slowly right now because Twitter's purge has increased their traffic by about a factor of 8. Bitchute is growing similarly from people leaving Youtube. Both Gab and Bitchute can use some support right now.
Taking names and making lists!