Parler Is Back Online With A Message For 'Both Lovers And Haters'
Parler has taken a tentative first step back online having been down since Amazon Web Services (AWS) suspended its hosting. Parler.com is currently displaying a placeholder message from company CEO John Matze outlining the intention to have the social media platform fully back online soon. Matze had previously said it was unclear whether it would be possible to get back up and running.
Parler positions itself as a social media platform for free speech and has grown in popularity among the right-wing and the far-right due to its commitment not to censoring content, including that which might fall foul of content policies on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. It is for this reason that it has been removed from the Google and Apple app stores and had its web hosting suspended by Amazon, with all three companies citing a lack of adequate moderation on the platform to control potential incitement of violence by some users following the rioting at the U.S. Capitol. Prior to Parler going offline, Matze called the suspensions "a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place," although each had pointed to compliance with their policies as the way out of suspension.
The placeholder page begins with a message from Matze saying "Hello world, is this thing on?" That is followed by a section euphemistically titled 'Technical Difficulties' that offers the following message to its lovers and haters: "We believe privacy is paramount and free speech essential, especially on social media. Our aim has always been to provide a nonpartisan public square where individuals can enjoy and exercise their rights to both." The page concludes with a commitment from Parler to welcome back its users soon and a promise that "We will not let civil discourse perish!"
The first thing to note here is a much stronger sense that Parler will be fully back online at some point that had been the case. Secondly, it has moved the registration of its domain name but not its hosting to Epik, which was moved to release a statement clarifying its own position. While reiterating a firm stance against hatred and violence, Epik variously argued that Amazon's action was unprecedented with no comparable standard having ever been applied to other tech companies, that fake accounts had been purposefully set up "to publish horrific and violent content," and that Parler's 15 million users should not have to suffer due to the actions of a few. It also said it had made recommendations for policy improvement to Parler and offered its support to the platform, saying, "While we cannot predict what will happen to Parler, we can confirm that the examples utilized to marginalize and ultimately deplatform their active base of millions of users in no way reflect the values of the owners, investors, engineers, community, or the hundreds of moderators that worked tirelessly to serve the people and user base that they loved."
When Parler will fully return and where it will be hosted remains unclear but, as Epik rightly points out, "The opportunity to be the focal point in such a significant and important debate is a rare privilege. With proper reception and attentiveness by their key team members and leaders, it should allow them to benefit from important viewpoints that may have taken other organizations years to receive and implement." This is an important point as, assuming Parler does survive, it will do so with a much higher profile than ever before and the opportunity to turn that into strong growth. If Parler can demonstrate robust moderation of potentially harmful content and shed the reputation of being a haven for the far-right, then its aims of protecting free speech and encouraging debate could bring it to a much wider audience.
Source: Parler