Former Parler CEO John Matze filed a lawsuit against the social media company he helped co-found on Tuesday, alleging theft, bullying, and intimidation.
Parler was taken down by Amazon Web Services in January following the Jan. 6 Capitol incident, leaving the platform favored by conservatives and supporters of former President Donald Trump offline for more than a month. Matze, meanwhile, said in February that he was fired.
After the website was deplatformed by Amazon, as well as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, Mercer “sought to co-opt it as a symbol or as the ’tip of the spear' for her brand of conservatism, and plotted to force Matze out as CEO, Manager, and Member, and steal his forty percent (40%) ownership interest,” according to Matze’s suit.
When the site was down, Matze said that he wanted to implement moderation to “preserve the right of free expression for all points of view, but would preclude content that is inciting violence and acts of domestic terrorism.”
The lawsuit added that he is entitled to “punitive damages trebling (at a minimum) the millions that he is owed in compensatory damages,” adding that Parler officials allegedly threatened Matze with an “avalanche of legal claims and expenses if he dared defy Mercer.”
The suit also names Jeffrey Wernick, Parler’s chief operating officer, Meckler, and Dan Bongino as defendants. None have publicly responded to the lawsuit’s claims.
Parler was founded in 2018 as an alternative to Twitter that would protect free speech. It became popular with conservatives, namely after the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Parler filed a new lawsuit of its own against Amazon Web Services (AWS) earlier this month, alleging the Seattle-based tech giant tried to destroy its business following Jan. 6.
The Epoch Times has contacted Parler for comment.
