Parler was abandoned by large technology companies after members used it to incite violence at the U.S. Capitol. He now relies on an accommodation service owned by two Russians.
Parler, the popular social network among conspiracy theorists and the far right, reappeared with the help of a Russian-owned web security service as the website looked for a way to circumvent the bans leave offline earlier this month.
“Our return is inevitable due to hard work and persistence against all odds,” CEO John Matze wrote in a new post, the most recent since Amazon Web Services stopped hosting the site and was banned from Apple Inc. and Google’s app stores. “Despite threats and harassment, none of Parler’s employees have stopped smoking. We are getting stronger as a team.”
Parler, who was abandoned by big tech companies after members used him to incite violence at the U.S. Capitol, now relies on a DDoS-Guard Corp. hosting service owned by two Russians, Evgenii Marchenko and Aleksei Likhachev. , according to documents filed with Companies House, a British agency that records company information and makes it available to the public. The DDoS-Guard website shows an Edinburgh location for your registered office.
Public data associated with the Parler.com domain name shows that one of the Internet servers to which visitors are directed is routed through DDoS-Guard. Another server, specifically for forwarding Parler.com email but not website content, is an Outlook.com address, operated by Microsoft Corp.
A DDoS-Guard spokeswoman said the company did not host Parler and declined to comment on what services it provided to the social media app. He confirmed that he stored customer data as part of his offer.
On Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended Apple’s decision to withdraw the Parler app despite complaints from critics that the measure affects freedom of expression.
“We looked at the incitement to violence that was there,” Cook told Fox News Sunday. “We do not consider freedom of expression and incitement to violence to have an intersection.”
Parler’s domain name is already registered with Epik Inc., a website services company based in Sammamish, Washington, according to public records made available to Internet regulator Icann. Epik is also the domain registrar for Gab, another less restrictive social networking site popular among the far right.
Most of Parler.com’s features appeared to remain inactive on Tuesday, in addition to statements from Matze and other employees. Members cannot log in or post messages, and the app is not yet available in Apple Inc. stores. and Google Play.
“While we didn’t expect Parler to move his domain name to Epik on Jan. 11, we are very grateful for the opportunity,” Epik spokesman Robert Davis said in an email. “It has provided great discussions on how Parler can be an inspiring part of the progression and evolution of future social media.”
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prior to its ban, Parler, which has less restrictive terms dictating what members can post and was approved by some Republican lawmakers and media personalities, had seen an increase in users since Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. they banished outgoing President Donald Trump along with users and groups who supported the violence.