Tech giants ban right-wing haven

Amazon will suspend Parler, the tech giant confirmed, sending the social media network offline after it was banned by Apple and Google for allowing "threats of violence" in the wake of a deadly riot at the United States Capitol.

Parler has become a haven for conservatives who say they have been censored by other social media platforms.

It became the No 1 free app on Apple's App Store on Saturday after Twitter decided to permanently ban US President Trump from its platform for his role in inciting violence at the Capitol.

Messages of support for Wednesday's rioters along with calls for new demonstrations had flourished on the platform, leading Google to remove it from its app store on Friday, followed by Apple on Saturday.

Amazon then moved to wipe it from its cloud hosting Amazon Web Services, pushing it offline entirely.

In a letter to Parler, Amazon said the network was not acting quickly enough against violent content on the platform.

"We've seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms of service," it said.

As the group hosts Parler's data on its cloud service, this should prevent it from functioning temporarily.

Parler founder John Matz said there was a possibility the network would be unavailable "for up to a week" as it searches for a new host. We will try our best to move to a new provider right now," he said.

Amazon's decision has a much more far-reaching impact than the moves by Google and Apple.

They had made it more complicated to download the Parler app, but users could still access it if it was already downloaded or through an internet browser.

"There is no place on our platform for threats of violence," Apple said Saturday.

Google pulled Parler from its app store for allowing "egregious content" that could incite deadly violence.

Other mainstream social media networks like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have also suspended Trump following the attack on the Capitol.

Parler started in 2018 and was initially a home for the extreme right, but now attracts more traditional conservative voices including Republican lawmakers.