Parler (Parler) website was suddenly back online on January 17, and CEO John Matze (John Matze) also left a message that read, “Hello world, is this thing on?” (Hello world, is this thing on?)
The message suggested that Parler had found another hosting service a week or so after Amazon stopped providing Web services, causing the site to shut down. Previously considered a “free speech” platform, Parler has seen an unprecedented surge in users after many prominent conservatives had their comments censored by Twitter, Facebook and other platforms.
Martz also issued a temporary status update.
“It seems like a good time to remind everyone (love us or hate us) why we started this platform,” Maz wrote, “We believe that privacy is paramount and freedom of speech is essential, especially on social media. Our goal has always been to provide a non-partisan public square in which everyone can enjoy, and exercise, both of these rights.”
“We will address any challenges that come before us and hope to welcome everyone back soon. We will not let the civil discourse die!” He wrote.
In the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, Amazon cited Parler’s lack of moderation as a reason to stop providing Internet services. in a court filing, Parler cited text messages between Martz and Amazon representatives. The text messages indicate that Amazon was primarily concerned that President Trump‘s (Trump) Twitter account might migrate to Parler after it was blocked.
The same document also says Amazon doesn’t appear to be too concerned about the threat of violence that Parler users say they are making.
Last week, Parler asked a Washington state federal court to block Amazon’s decision and insisted that by terminating the service, Amazon was engaging in monopolistic behavior because Twitter is also a major customer of Amazon’s Web service.
According to a WHOIS search, Parler appears to be hosted by Epik, which also hosts the social media site Gab.
In a statement last week, Epik, while not confirming that Parler was seeking the service, decried the tech giants’ “instinctive reaction” (knee jerk reaction) to “cancel the platform on its own and terminate any relationship that on its face appears uncertain or controversial.
In addition to Amazon’s decision, Google and Apple have also removed Parler from their respective App stores.
Mazzie said earlier on Jan. 17 that there was no previous indication that Amazon, Google and Apple would pull their services.
Maz told Fox News that in the days leading up to the service suspension, “as usual, Amazon was basically saying, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen any substantial problems. There’s no problem.’ You know, they very nonchalantly shut down the service. So, we didn’t even see signs of that on January 8 and January 9.”
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