Parler CEO says service has been dumped by 'every vendor', may be forced to shut down

Parler may be forced out of business after the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple severed ties with it in the wake of last week's attack on the US Capitol. 

The social media platform, along with Gab, positions itself as a bastion of free speech that doesn't moderate content nearly as strictly as mainstream alternatives such as Twitter and Facebook.

It has become a favoured platform by members of the alt-right and other extremists as a result, but the company's boss says it may soon be a thing of the past.

"Every vendor from text message services to email providers to our lawyers all ditched us on the same day," Parler CEO John Matze told Fox News.

"It's devastating, is what it is. It's an assault on everybody. They all worked together to make sure, at the same time, we would lose access to not only our apps but they're actually shutting all of our servers off.

"They made an attempt to not only kill the app, but to actually destroy the entire company."

Parler was removed from Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store as those companies said it was not taking enough action to prevent posts inciting further political violence in the US.

"There is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity," Apple said in a statement to Forbes.

"Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people's safety."

Google cited posts in the Parler following the attack on the Capitol that seek "to incite ongoing violence in the US".

A post on Parler today from social media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos jokingly calls for acts of mass murder to be carried out by "Trump-supporting death squads". It had not been removed at the time of publishing, four hours after it was posted.

Milo Yiannopoulos jokes about more violence from pro-Donald Trump insurrectionists on Parler.
Photo credit: Parler / Milo Yiannopoulos

Matze told Fox News that the actions against Parler were unfair.

"They're trying to falsely claim that we're somehow responsible for the events that occurred on [January 6]," he said.

"We're going to try our best to get back online as quickly as possible. But we're having a lot of trouble because every vendor we talk to says they won't work with us.

"If Apple doesn't approve and Google doesn't approve, they won't."

Since he was booted off Twitter, Donald Trump has been looking at alternative social media platforms to use instead, even suggesting he may launch his own.