Parler files lawsuit against Amazon after getting kicked off Amazon Web Services

Social media company Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Monday after it was booted from Amazon Web Services over the weekend.

Amazon said on Saturday that it would suspend Parler on Sunday before midnight, citing a violation of its terms of service due to calls for violence on the platform.

Parler has become popular in recent months with conservatives as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter, which both banned President Trump last week following the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

In its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Parler says the decision to suspend its account “is apparently motivated by political animus.” It claims that Amazon is violating antitrust law in combination with Twitter, which also uses AWS.

Parler also says AWS breached its contract by not providing Parler with a 30-day notice, and alleges that AWS is committing “intentional interference with prospective economic advantage.”

“This emergency suit seeks a Temporary Restraining Order against Defendant Amazon Web Services to prevent it from shutting down Parler’s account at the end of today,” the lawsuit reads. “Doing so is the equivalent of pulling the plug on a hospital patient on life support. It will kill Parler’s business—at the very time it is set to skyrocket.”

Apple and Google have removed Parler from their respective app stores over the past few days. Apple said it received complaints that Parler was used to plan and coordinate the riots, BuzzFeed reported.

We’ve reached out to Amazon and Parler for comment and will update this story when we hear back. See the full complaint below.