By the time I publish this, Parler — the conservative social media site that bills itself as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter—will no longer exist on the web. And if you haven’t already downloaded it to your phone, you won’t be able to see it there either. This comes on the heels of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat all banning President Donald Trump from their platforms after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Five people died, including a police officer, and many more were injured. For hours, lawmakers, congressional staff, journalists and others hid in offices, under desks, and behind chairs to avoid the armed protestors. This podcast episode, and particularly Emily Cochrane’s account, drives home how (chaotic, unprecedented, terrifying — pick your adjective) that day was.
And it isn’t just the big four who dumped Trump. Reddit banned the subreddit page r/DonaldTrump. TikTok removed videos of Trump speeches that the company says violate its policy against misinformation. It’s also blocking the hashtags #patriotparty and #stormthecapitol. YouTube is ramping up its fight against false claims of voter fraud. Even Shopify — a major platform for online storefronts — took down Trump’s merch.
Now, Parler is the target. Google and Apple both removed it from their app stores this weekend, meaning people who hadn’t already downloaded the app will only have access to it through the website. And that’s only until Amazon, which hosts the website, kicks it off … which it has…
