Twitter and Facebook shares slide amid US violence backlash

Parler went down early today after Amazon Web Services shut off access to its servers, leaving it without a home

Supporters of US president Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the Capitol last Wednesday. Picture: Jose Luis Magana/AP

Technology companies tried to contain a mounting backlash against their social media sites, with shares of Twitter and Facebook falling and rival platform Parler forced offline by Amazon. 

Many conservatives said the moves to expunge US president Donald Trump from the social networks and take down an app popular with his supporters went too far. Twitter shares were down sharply, reflecting shareholder uncertainty about the permanent removal of one of the site’s biggest accounts and the legislative consequence that could follow. Facebook’s shares also fell during the session.