A few days ago, news emerged that Amazon had made an antitrust claim against the company TweetCrunch. This claim was made after they had found that Twitter had used Amazon’s trademarks to promote its own products and services. While Twitter isn’t a competitor, the news is still a big deal.
Antitrust claim
Twitter competitor Parler has filed an antitrust claim against Amazon. The complaint alleges that Amazon violated federal antitrust laws and interfered with business relationships with users. AWS is the cloud service provider for both Parler and Twitter.
Amazon removed Parler from its cloud hosting service over the weekend. Amazon cited concerns about user content. It reported that more than 100 pieces of content advocating violence were posted on the site. It also pointed to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields tech companies from liability for offensive material.
On January 9th, Amazon notified Parler that its service would be suspended. Parler said the move was politically motivated. But Amazon defended its actions as necessary to protect the public.
In the filing, Parler claims that Amazon failed to moderate its content, citing a lack of policies and moderation strategies. Parler also asserts that it was aware of Amazon’s plans to build an AI system to better police its users’ posts. However, Parler did not provide evidence to support this assertion.
Violent rhetoric
Violent rhetoric has gotten a major boost from big-tech platforms. For years, social media companies have been amplification of the most dangerous conspiracy theories and disinformation. Now, they are trying to put an end to it.
Violent rhetoric has gotten a lot of attention in the wake of the El Paso Walmart shooter. Patrick Crusius killed 23 people in a shooting that was inspired by a conservative media host’s conspiracy theories. However, the shooting also involved words of invasion. It is not uncommon for these kinds of far-right groups to use violent rhetoric on their message boards.
The NRA, for example, spends millions of dollars on spreading its message. A recent study found that hate crimes against Hispanics and Muslims have increased 32% and 32%, respectively.
In light of these recent incidents, many tech companies have decided to take action against inflammatory content. Facebook, for instance, banned President Trump’s account. Other big-tech firms have also taken action against the president’s allies. Apple and Google both removed Parler, a right-wing social network, from their stores.
Terms of service
Amazon and Twitter have both been accused of attempting to silence conservatives. Their actions are not without precedent. Both platforms have been trying to moderate content for years.
Parler, a social networking site favored by right wingers, was yanked from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for a variety of reasons. One of the big reasons was a lack of content moderation.
Another reason was an alleged antitrust collusion. In addition, the company has been taking steps to moderate content, including a new set of AI moderators. It is hoped that this will make the app less of a nuisance for conservatives.
The fact that both companies have imposed a ban on President Trump’s Twitter account is likely to cause a stir among conservatives. However, the ban may not last for long.
If Parler can find a new hosting provider, it will resume operations. However, in the meantime, its users will be limited to the Web.
Security
Security on Amazon and Twitter is an ongoing issue. The two companies are currently running into lawsuits and legal violations. They have also been accused of sending data to organizations that have been found to be at risk.
Twitter has a history of security breaches. The company has been hit with a series of fines by the FTC. It has also been hacked by foreign governments. In the past month, the company has cut staff and slashed its communications department.
Twitter is relying on the services of Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provides Twitter with storage, compute, and content delivery services. The two companies have been working together for over a decade. This relationship will allow Twitter to expand its real-time service. AWS is also helping the social networking platform develop new features and extend its on-premises infrastructure.
As part of its contract with Amazon, Twitter is using the company’s storage and content delivery services to distribute ads and videos. It will also use AWS container services to develop new features.
