Social media company Parler sued Amazon on Monday, alleging that its suspension from Amazon’s hosting service violated antitrust law and breached the companies’ contractual arrangement.
In its lawsuit, Parler, which is especially popular among conservatives, asked a federal judge to order that the platform be reinstated online.
The 18-page complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, accuses Amazon Web Services (AWS) of applying a politically motivated double standard to Parler in contrast to its treatment of the more mainstream social media giant Twitter.
“AWS’s decision to effectively terminate Parler’s account is apparently motivated by political animus,” the lawsuit reads. “It is also apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”
The Hill has reached out to Amazon for comment.
The lawsuit comes a day after Amazon suspended Parler, citing concerns it could not adequately screen out potentially incendiary content, including material that incites violence. It also follows Wednesday’s deadly, Trump-inspired insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.
The app saw a massive surge in users between the mob attack at the Capitol and when it was pulled down from Amazon Web Services.
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