Parler vanished from the Internet after Amazon Inc. pulled its host arm and other collaborators for bad moderation after its users called for abuse and shared videos glorifying the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Parler, a social media website and app popular with far-right American citizens, has partially returned online with the aid of a Russian-owned technology firm.
Parler vanished from the Internet after Amazon Inc. pulled its host arm and other collaborators for bad moderation after its users called for abuse and shared videos glorifying the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On Monday, Parler’s website was available again, but only with a note from its chief executive that he was trying to restore functionality.
The internet protocol address used is held by DDos-Guard, which is operated by two Russian men and offers services including security from distributed denial of service attacks, said the technology specialist Ronald Guilmette to Reuters.
When the website is completely restored, users of Parler will be able to access and write comments. Most consumers like the app, which is also banned from official Apple Inc and Google stores.
The CEO of Parler, John Matze, and the members of DDoS-Guard did not respond to requests for comments.
Last Wednesday, Matze told Reuters that the organisation had been talking to several service providers but refused to elaborate.
DDoS-Guard has partnered with numerous racist, right-wing and hoax forums used by mass killers to exchange posts, including 8kun. Russian government pages have also been funded.
DDoS-website Guard’s lists an address in Scotland under the name of Cognitive Cloud LP, but it is owned by two men in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Guilmette added. One of them recently told the Guardian that he was not sure of all the company’s content.
Parler’s critics said that it was a possible security risk to rely on a Russian corporation, as well as an unusual option for a site popular with self-described patriots.
Russian media has fueled political divisions in the United States, supporting the outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump and amplifying false narratives of electoral fraud, but also protests against police brutality.
Parler, which has more than 12 million subscribers, sued Amazon last Monday after the giant e-commerce and cloud services company had shut down the service, citing weak call moderation.
In a Monday post, Parler.com connected to a Fox News interview in which Matze said he was “confident” that Parler would be back by the end of January.
