Newsdeck

Newsdeck

Parler Reappears With CEO Calling Full Return ‘Inevitable’

The Parler logo on a laptop computer arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Parler bills itself as a non-biased social network that protects free speech and user data. John Matze, chief executive officer, says the platform saw great growth during the 2020 election as many conservatives moved away from products like Facebook and Twitter. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Parler, the free-speech social network, reappeared with a statement from its chief executive officer on Monday after the website found a way around the bans that took it offline last week.

By Nate Lanxon and Amy Thomson

Word Count: 418
(Bloomberg) — 

“Our return is inevitable due to hard work, and persistence against all odds,” CEO John Matze wrote in a new post. “Despite the threats and harassment not one Parler employee has quit. We are becoming closer and stronger as a team.”

Read More: Parler CEO Goes Into Hiding Blaming Amazon Flak, Death Threats

The site, which became unavailable after Amazon.com Inc. determined it had violated its terms of service, has found a new company willing to host it, DDoS-Guard Corp. Public data associated with the Parler.com domain name shows that one of the internet servers it directs visitors to is hosted by DDoS-Guard. Another server, specifically for routing Parler.com email but not website content, is an Outlook.com address, operated by Microsoft Corp.

DDoS-Guard’s website lists an Edinburgh location for its registered office, though its two owners, Evgenii Marchenko and Aleksei Likhachev, live in Russia, according to documents filed with Companies House.

Parler’s domain name is now registered with Epik Inc., a website services company based in Sammamish, Washington, according to public records made available by internet regulator Icann. Epik is also the domain registrar for Gab, another less restrictive social networking site popular with the far right.

Read More: Apps Claiming ‘Free Speech’ for Users Vie for Parler’s Place

Still, most of the features on Parler.com appeared to remain down early Tuesday, besides statements from Matze and other employees. Members are unable to log in or post messages and the app is still unavailable in the Apple Inc. or Google Play stores.

A representative for DDoS-Guard declined to comment. Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Epik said in a sprawling statement on its website from Jan. 11 that it’s had “no contact or discussions with Parler in any form.” The statement also addressed propaganda, breakdowns in civil society and editorial malfeasance on the part of “major media owners.”

Parler — which has less restrictive terms dictating what members can post and was endorsed by some Republican lawmakers and media figures — was banned from mainstream hosting and app stores after its users were linked to groups supporting rioting at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

The company had seen a surge in users as Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. banished outgoing President Donald Trump along with users and groups that supported the violence.

(Updates with additional details on the DDoS guard cloud host service in the third paragraph)

–With assistance from Ilya Khrennikov.

© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • JV SL says:

    The new censorship machines at the servitude of the DemockRat Party and PC, SJW, and radical left liberals in general will work harder and harder to shut up free speech and dissidents.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.