Amazon Tells Court Parler Should Remain Shut Down After Riot

The Parler logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Parler bills itself as a non-biased social network that protects free speech and user data. John Matze, chief executive officer, says the platform saw great growth during the 2020 election as many conservatives moved away from products like Facebook and Twitter. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. urged a judge not to order the company to restore web-hosting service to Parler LLC, the conservative social media platform.

Amazon Web Services suspended its hosting service for Parler after it was used by supporters of President Donald Trump to organize the storming of the U.S. Capitol last week. Parler sued, asking a federal judge to order AWS to reinstate its web-hosting immediately. Amazon objected to the move late Tuesday.

“Compelling AWS to host content that plans, encourages, and incites violence would be unprecedented,” the company said in a filing. “Parler has no likelihood of prevailing on the merits, and the balance of equities and public interest strongly tip against an injunction. The motion for a temporary restraining order should be denied.”