Parler was turned down by big tech companies after being used by members to incite violence at the American Capitol. It now relies on a hosting service owned by two Russians.
Parler, the social network popular with alt-right and conspiracy theorists, has reappeared using a Russian web security service, while the site is looking for a way to remove bans it took offline earlier this month.
“Our return is inevitable due to hard work and perseverance in all likelihood,” CEO John Matze wrote in a new post, the last since Amazon Web Services stopped hosting the site and it is banned from Apple Inc. and Google. app stores. “Despite the threats and harassment, not a single employee of Parler stopped. We become closer and stronger as a team. ”
Parler, who was abandoned by the big tech companies after being used by members to incite violence in the US Capitol, now relies on a hosting service of DDoS-Guard Corp., which is owned by two Russians, Evgenii Marchenko and Aleksei Likhachev, according to documents filed with Companies House, a British agency that registers and makes company information available to the public. The DDoS-Guard website contains a location in Edinburgh for its registered office.
Public data associated with the Parler.com domain name indicates that one of the Internet servers to which visitors are directed is routed through DDoS-Guard. Another server, specifically for sending emails from Parler.com, but not for website content, is an Outlook.com address provided by Microsoft Corp.
A DDoS Guard spokesman said the company did not house Parler and declined to comment on the services it provides to the social media app. It confirmed that it did store customers’ data as part of the offer.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday defended Apple’s decision to delist the Parler app, despite complaints from critics that the move affects freedom of speech.
“We looked at the incitement to violence that was there,” Cook told Fox News Sunday. “We do not think that freedom of speech and incitement to violence have a crossroads.”
Parler’s domain name is now registered with Epik Inc., a website services company in Sammamish, Washington, according to public records made available by Internet regulator Icann. Epik is also the domain registrar of Gab, another less restricted social networking site popular among the far right.
Most of the features on Parler.com apparently stayed up early Tuesday, except for statements from Matze and other employees. Members are unable to log in or post messages and the app is still not available in the Apple Inc. or Google Play stores.
“While we did not expect Parler to move their domain name to Epik on January 11, we are very grateful for the opportunity,” Epik spokesman Robert Davis said in an email. “It has sparked good discussions about how Parler can be an inspiring part of the progress and evolution of future social media.”
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prior to its ban, Parler, which has less restrictive provisions governing what members can post, and endorsed by some Republican lawmakers and media people, saw an increase in users when Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. the outgoing President Donald Trump was banned, along with users and groups who supported the violence.