Parler CEO John Matze blasted efforts to silence his app as “sick” and “evil” as the controversial social network struggled to get back online.
Matze slammed the people who called for a crackdown on the site’s violent content in an interview with Fox News, saying the actions tech companies took against Parler in recent days went against the spirit of the Constitution.
“I think it’s sick,” Matze told Fox in the interview published Tuesday. “That’s not what the Constitution said. “That’s not what the Constitution stands for, banning 10-plus million US voters from the internet, barring people from free speech.”
Parler’s users haven’t been banned from the internet or from expressing their views, but they have been unable to access the Twitter-like platform since Amazon Web Services booted the site from its servers early Monday.
Apple and Google likewise pulled Parler from their respective app stores last week over the fledgling company’s alleged failure to remove threats of violence that its users posted.
In the Fox interview, Matze argued that the tech companies capitulated to liberal politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who raised concerns about the violent content on Parler after last week’s deadly Capitol riots. Parler is popular with President Trump’s supporters and other right-wing activists.
“Frankly, I would call it evil, because my definition of evil is ‘forcing your will upon others,’” Matze told Fox. “If you don’t like what I have to say, you can disagree with me, but you cannot take vindictive action against me without being evil.”
Parler filed a lawsuit Monday accusing Amazon Web Services of breach of contract and violating an antitrust law over the tech titan’s decision to stop hosting the site.
In response, AWS said it repeatedly warned Parler about its users’ violent posts and that the company failed to promptly remove them.
“People have acted on these calls: Parler was used to incite, organize, and coordinate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol,” AWS said in a Tuesday court filing.