The crackdown on conservative speech had begun earlier, but the January 6 storming of the Capitol set things into high gear. President Trump was banned from Twitter so he couldn’t incite any more insurrections, and even though planning for the assault on the Capitol Building was done largely on Facebook — something Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg denied could have happened because of Facebook’s stringent rules — Amazon’s web hosting service decided to shut down Parler, seen as the conservative alternative to Twitter. It was on Parler where the storming of the Capitol was planned, insisted the powers that be.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Parler had reported violent content to the FBI more than 50 times before January 6, and had even reported some specific posts about an attack on January 6.
The conservative-leaning social-media network Parler said it referred violent content from its platform to the FBI more than 50 times in the weeks before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol https://t.co/GNf1hVW6U5
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 25, 2021
Before Jan. 6, Parler referred violent content from its platform to the FBI for investigation over 50 times – including specific threats of violence being planned at the Capitol. https://t.co/b1HRWQroXj #freeparler
— Ian Prior (@iandprior) March 25, 2021
Jeff Horwitz reports for the Wall Street Journal:
Parler said it forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Jan. 2 a series of posts from a user saying he would be wearing body armor to the pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6. “It’s no longer a protest,” Parler quoted the post as saying. “This is a final stand where we are drawing the red line at Capitol Hill. I trust the American people will take back the USA with force and many are ready to die to take back #USA.”
In another post, a Parler user made clear that armed people would be at the Capitol that day, saying “they may be concealed at first but if congress does the wrong thing expect real chaos because Trump needs us to cause chaos to enact the #insurrectionact.”
The FBI declined to comment. FBI officials have repeatedly said they had no specific, credible threats about violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and had shared information they had as quickly as possible with other law-enforcement agencies.
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It’s not like the FBI to drop the ball like that.
It's becoming more and more clear that the reasoning given by Amazon, Apple, and Google for banning Parler was pretextual, unwarranted, and an abuse of market power. https://t.co/fDaONfqmxK
— Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 25, 2021
DOJ charging documents show that Facebook & other social media platforms had a much larger share of their users engaging in Jan 6 content than Parler. https://t.co/dlRMKDOVDs
— Rachel Bovard (@rachelbovard) March 25, 2021
Does this surprise anyone?
— Eve Lewis (@EveLewi65296271) March 25, 2021
My understanding is that groups organized via Twitter and FB, but sure, Parler is the dangerous bad platform.
— Liberty247 (@d_taggert) March 25, 2021
Always was. AWS suspended them because they contractually couldn't terminate them. Seems they're only able to stifle competition at this point. Silicon valley is about to decline, and their movements to control government is a clear sign of fear. The US is in decline.
— Almighty_Deity (@AlmightyDeity) March 25, 2021
Yes, why keep buying out the competition when you can simply just remove them at a whim….
— Chuck (@Chuck55013680) March 25, 2021
https://twitter.com/dctune/status/1375189785267027968
FBI: pic.twitter.com/El5YWPxhhs
— Taxpayer1234 Neanderthal (@Taxpayers1234) March 25, 2021
So @FBI was useless? Surprise!
— Goldens Rule (@jamesbranch3) March 25, 2021
How many times will the FBI show us just how inept they are?
— AshleeLee (@MsAshleeLee) March 25, 2021
They did crack the case of that noose in Bubba Wallace’s garage, and that only took, like, 15 FBI special agents.
https://twitter.com/The_IAP/status/1375213664123432973
https://twitter.com/The_IAP/status/1375213667181080590
Related:
House Dems call for an FBI investigation of Parler over the January 6 riot and possible ties to Russia https://t.co/OrnOtFsWvy
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 21, 2021
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