Henderson-based Parler has a message for its supporters and ‘haters’
Parler, the Henderson-based social media site that has been a home to the far right, reappeared online this weekend with a message for its supporters and “haters.”
“Hello world, is this thing on?” read a new post from Parler CEO John Matze.
Below that, a message notified visitors of “technical difficulties.”
“Now seems like the right time to remind you all — both lovers and haters — why we started this platform,” the message on the previously deplatformed social network read in part.
It added: “We will resolve any challenge before us and plan to welcome all of you back soon. We will not let civil discourse perish!”
No other details about Parler’s apparent return were included in the message. Attempts to reach Matze on Sunday were unsuccessful.
Parler met an uncertain future this month when tech giants Google, Apple and Amazon pulled the plug on the platform.
Two days after the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, Google pulled the platform’s smartphone app from its app store for allowing posts that seek “to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.”
Apple followed suit the next day after giving the social media company 24 hours to address complaints that the platform was being used to plan further “illegal and dangerous activities.”
The same day, Amazon notified Parler that it was booting the company from its web-hosting service.
Parler sued Amazon in federal court, claiming that the decision was “motivated by political animus” and was “apparently designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”
Parler now appears to be hosted by Epik, a “Whois” search indicates. The web-hosting service also hosts Gab, another far-right-friendly social media site whose users include white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other extremists.
However, a statement posted to Epik’s company blog dated Jan. 11 read that at the time, “we have had no contact or discussions with Parler in any form regarding our organization becoming their registrar or hosting provider.”
An Epik representative did not respond to a late Sunday request for comment.
Robert Futrell, a UNLV sociology professor who has studied far-right and white supremacist groups for over two decades, said he’s not surprised to see Parler reappear online.
“The thing about these groups is that they’ll find places to gather, even when they’ve been deplatformed,” Futrell said. “Deplatforming is an important strategy, but it’s not the only strategy.”
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter. The Associated Press and Review-Journal staff writer Alexis Ford contributed to this report.
