Social media site Parler.com responds to the latest news about their legal battles and ‘Russia collusion’ type rumors.
Yahoo!news reported a judge rejected Parler’s request Thursday that Amazon.com Inc. restore its hosting services:
U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle said Parler was unlikely to prove Amazon breached its contract or violated antitrust law by suspending service on Jan. 10, and that it was “not a close call.”
Parler Responds on their Site:
Here’s what Parler had to say on their site. (Parler is partially functioning on desktop computers):
We are disappointed by the judge’s ruling against our request for a preliminary injunction in our suit against Amazon AWS. We remain confident that we will ultimately prevail in the main case. We also remind everyone that this litigation is still in its early stages and that the resolution of this case will have broad implications for our pluralistic society.
Parler is gratified that the court refused to uncritically accept Amazon’s argument – widely repeated in the media – that the Parler platform was somehow used to plan, coordinate or execute the despicable January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Based on the evidence of which we are aware, the Parler platform was not used in that manner – even though competing platforms clearly were used for that purpose. We are grateful the court refused to join the dishonest attempt to make Parler the scapegoat for the riot.
At the same time, Parler is disappointed that the court’s ruling ignored the reality that every social-media platform – including Amazon’s own online store – sometimes unwittingly hosts content that incites violence or is otherwise inappropriate. In fact, our analysis shows that the incidence of such material on Parler is far lower than on competing platforms. Parler has developed an artificial intelligence-based enforcement system that we believe will reduce the incidence of such content still further.
Parler looks forward to working with old and new partners to reestablish an alternative social-media platform that not only avoids the unnecessary censorship that has become increasingly popular with its competitors, but is also more protective of public safety.
Parler Addresses the Latest Version of a ‘Russia Collusion Hoax’:
Parler is currently using DDoS-Guard, a Russian digital infrastructure company, to defend it against malicious attacks. A massive number of attacks daily is typical for any popular site online.
DDoS-Guard told WIRED.com it is only providing defense against denial-of-service attacks. Contrary to rumors, they are not hosting Parler’s site, they said.
While Parler is hoping to find a US-based server host, it has not be able to yet.
Parler’s reliance for now on a Russian-owned infrastructure company, along with the fact that CEO John Matze’s wife is from Russia, has fueled speculation and rumors of treasonous collusion.
Parler responds to this on their site Friday:
Over the past few weeks, Parler has been repeatedly mischaracterized and treated unjustly. But the recent personal attacks on our CEO John, his wife Alina, and their family are reprehensible.
Alina, whose working-class family lived in the former Soviet Union, came to America to start her own multi-racial, interfaith family with John. To subject them to baseless accusations that their marriage is part of some twisted espionage scheme—all because she is an immigrant—is precisely the sort of “racism, nativism, fear, [and] demonization” President Biden urged us to reject in his inaugural address.
The Entire Parler Team stands behind John and Alina. Our new President called for unity: “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this, if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.” The smears against John and Alina are exactly the sort of tactics he is imploring us all to abandon. Let’s all commit to working together toward unity and healing.
Firsthand Account of Parler Censorship:
Most conservatives were shocked and angered by the assault on the Capitol. We were also shocked and angered by BLM/Antifa riots all summer long, and Democrat leaders fanning their flames. But we were equally shocked by what happened to Parler.
Many of us literally watched the free speech site get shut down by Big Tech colluding with Big Government. We sat by helplessly as Apple disabled Parler’s app (the most popular app it offered). And we watched the site go dead when Amazon disabled Parler’s server support. We literally witnessed a monopolistic company owned by the richest man on the planet pull the plug on free speech for Parler and its millions of users.
If Parler can come back from the dead, it will be a historic ‘David against Goliath’ victory for them against Big Tech. But it will also be a major victory for free speech itself.
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