Amazon plans to be more proactive about removing websites and services from its cloud computing platform AWS, which is used by the likes of Netflix, Fox, and ITV.
A new team of experts will monitor and remove websites and services in violation of its terms of service, including those promoting violence. This is a move that is likely to renew the debate about how much power large technology companies should have to restrict free speech.
Amazon made headlines last week for shutting down a website hosted on AWS that featured propaganda from Islamic State that celebrated the suicide bombing that killed an estimated 170 Afghans and 13 US troops in Kabul.
It wouldn’t remove a single message in a social media app, or a video on a website, but rather would remove the entire website from the internet.
Speaking to MailOnline, Jake More, cyber security specialist at ESET said: ‘They own a powerful market share in server space which essentially means this new rule could censor the internet.’
It isn’t clear how the firm will go in terms of removing content from major players like Netflix or Twitter, although Amazon made waves in January when it kicked ‘free speech’ social messaging app Parler off the platform after the US Capitol riot.
AWS’s offerings include cloud storage and virtual servers and it counts major companies like Netflix, Coca-Cola and Capital One as clients.
It also hosts content for a number of media companies, including Reach PLC’s websites, Twitter, Facebook and broadcasters such as the BBC and Fox.
