The social media platform Parler wiped off anything but the internet last week, but showed some signs of life on Sunday. A message from John Matze, CEO of Parler, first noticed by CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan– now appears on the URL of the site, with an image with a “technical problems” banner and a message.
‘It now seems like the right time to remind you all, both lovers and haters, why we started this platform. We believe that privacy is paramount and that freedom of speech is essential, especially on social media, “reads the message and promises to” welcome everyone back soon. “
Amazon dropped Parler off its hosting platform earlier this month, saying in a letter that it “cannot provide services to a customer who cannot identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others.” Parler was identified as a place where people who took part in the deadly attack on the Capitol on January 6 planned the attack.
The site is now hosted by Epik, as CNN notes, a hosting company that also supports extreme right-wing sites such as Gab and 8chan. The Amazon suspension follows Apple and Google removing Parler’s app from their respective app stores. Matze said even Parler’s lawyers cut the ties.
Parler sued Amazon for discontinuing hosting, and Amazon in a response outlined some of the graphical, violent threats to the site that led to its removal. .
Parler was launched in 2018 and its user numbers rose after the election day in the US as other social platforms tightened their moderation policies. Parler’s less stringent moderation policy was a draw for many new users.
Parler, however, has a difficult path back to his previous state, after researchers archived 99 percent of his reports, deleted videos and other data, some of which had GPS information. This archive was used to create an interactive map of the attack on the Capitol.