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A28 world news
Dialuna 11 Januari 2021

Parler squeezed as Trump seeks new online megaphone

vigorously police hate speech
and incitement in the wake
of the Capitol rebellion, as
Western democracies led by
Nazism-haunted Germany
already do.

David Kaye, a University of
California-Irvine law profes-
sor and former U.N. special
rapporteur on free speech
believes the Parlers of the
world will also face pres-
sure from the public and law
enforcement as will little-
known sites where further
pre-inauguration disruption
is now apparently being orga-
nized. They include MeWe,
Wimkin, TheDonald.win
and Stormfront, according to
a report released Saturday by
The Alethea Group, which
tracks disinformation.

Kaye rejects arguments by
U.S. conservatives including
the president’s former U.N.
ambassador, Nikki Haley,
(AP) — President Donald store for allowing postings ditched us too on the same once again. that the Trump ban savaged
Trump has been kicked off that seek “to incite ongoing day,” Matze said Sunday on the First Amendment, which
of most mainstream social violence in the U.S.” Apple Fox New Channel’s “Sunday Facebook and Instagram prohibits the government
media platforms follow- followed suit on Saturday Morning Futures.” He said have suspended Trump at from restricting free expres-
ing his supporters’ siege evening after giving Parler 24 while the company is trying least until Inauguration Day. sion. “Silencing people, not
on the U.S. Capitol. But hours to address complaints to get back online as quickly Twitch and Snapchat also to mention the President of
it remains to be seen how it was being used to “plan as possible, it’s “having a lot disabled Trump’s accounts, the US, is what happens in
fast or where — if any- and facilitate yet further ille- of trouble, because every while Shopify took down China not our country,” Hal-
where — on the internet gal and dangerous activities.” vendor we talk to says they online stores affiliated with ey tweeted.
he will be able to reach his Public safety issues will need won’t work with us, because, the president and Reddit re-
followers. to be resolved before it is re- if Apple doesn’t approve and moved a Trump subgroup. “It’s not like the platforms’
stored, Apple said. Google doesn’t approve, they Twitter also banned Trump rules are draconian. People
The far right-friendly Parler won’t.” loyalists including former don’t get caught in violations
had been the leading can- A message seeking comment national security advisor Mi- unless they do something
didate, at least until Google from Parler was sent Sunday Losing access to the app chael Flynn in a sweeping clearly against the rules,” said
and Apple removed it from on whether the company stores of Google and Apple purge of accounts promoting Kaye. And not just individ-
their app stores and Amazon plans to change its policies — whose operating systems the QAnon conspiracy theo- ual citizens have free speech
decided to boot it off its web and enforcement around power hundreds of millions ry and the Capitol insurrec- rights. “The companies have
hosting service by midnight these issues. of smartphones — severely tion. Some had hundreds of their freedom of speech, too.”
Pacific time on Sunday. limits Parler’s reach, though thousands of followers.
Amazon struck another blow it will continue to be acces- While initially arguing their
Parler’s CEO said that could Saturday, informing Parler it sible via web browser. Los- In a statement Friday, Trump need to be neutral on speech,
knock it offline for a week, would need to look for a new ing Amazon Web Services said: "We have been nego- Twitter and Facebook gradu-
though that might prove op- web-hosting service effec- will mean Parler needs to tiating with various other ally yielded to public pressure
timistic. And even if it finds tive midnight Sunday. It re- scramble to find another web sites, and will have a big an- drawing the line especially
a friendlier web-hosting ser- minded Parler in a letter, first host, in addition to the re- nouncement soon, while we when the so-called Plandem-
vice, without a smartphone reported by Buzzfeed, that it engineering. also look at the possibilities ic video emerged early in the
app, it's hard to imagine Par- had informed it in the past of building out our own plat- coronavirus pandemic urg-
ler gaining mainstream suc- few weeks of 98 examples of Trump may also launch his form in the near future.” ing people not to wear masks,
cess. posts “that clearly encourage own platform. But that won't noted civic media profes-
and incite violence” and said happen overnight, and free Gab is another potential sor Ethan Zuckerman of the
The 2-year-old magnet for the platform “poses a very speech experts anticipate landing spot for Trump. But University of Massachusetts-
the far right claims more than real risk to public safety.” growing pressure on all social it, too, has had troubles with Amherst.
12 million users, though mo- media platforms to curb in- internet hosting. Google and
bile app analytics firm Sensor Parler CEO John Matze de- cendiary speech as Americans Apple both booted it from Zuckerman expects the
Tower puts the number at 10 cried the punishments as “a take stock of Wednesday’s their app stores in 2017 and Trump de-platforming may
million worldwide, with 8 coordinated attack by the violent takeover of the U.S. it was left internet-homeless spur important online shifts.
million in the U.S. That's a tech giants to kill competi- Capitol by a Trump-incited for a time the following year First, there may be an accel-
fraction of the 89 million fol- tion in the marketplace. We mob. due to anti-Semitic posts at- erated splintering of the so-
lowers Trump had on Twit- were too successful too fast,” tributed to the man accused cial media world along ideo-
ter. he said in a Saturday night Twitter ended Trump’s near- of killing 11 people at a Pitts- logical lines.
post, saying it was possible ly 12-year run on Friday. In burgh synagogue. Microsoft
Still, Parler might be at- Parler would be unavailable shuttering his account, it cit- also terminated a web-host- "Trump will pull a lot of au-
tractive to Trump since it's for up to a week “as we re- ed a tweet to his 89 million ing contract. dience wherever he goes,” he
where his sons Eric and Don build from scratch.” followers that he planned said. That could mean more
Jr. are already active. Parler to skip President-elect Joe Online speech experts ex- platforms with smaller, more
hit headwinds, though, on “Every vendor, from text Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, pect social media companies ideologically isolated audi-
Friday as Google yanked its message services, to e-mail saying it gave rioters license led by Facebook, Twitter and ences.
smartphone app from its app providers, to our lawyers all to converge on Washington Google's YouTube to more