VOA NEWS - Apr 20 - Apple will allow the self-proclaimed free speech social media app Parler back in the App Store. The news came from a letter from Apple to Colorado Republican Congressman Ken Buck and Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, who had pressed the company about its removal of Parler.
40 posts categorized "Parler"
Apple Restores Parler to App Store
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Amazon Claims Parler Trying to Conceal Owners
THE CANADIAN PRESS - Apr 15 - Amazon has accused Parler, the social network known as a conservative alternative to Twitter, of trying to conceal its ownership amid a legal dispute between Amazon and Parler stemming from the U.S. Capitol riots. Angelo Calfo, an attorney representing Parler, disputed Amazon's claim and argued that the burden was on Amazon to prove who owns Parler. Parler did share information about its corporate structure with Amazon at the start of its lawsuit, Calfo said. But the documents were sealed to protect the identities of the parties due to threats of violence.
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It's Never Been Easier to Start a Social Network. Succeeding Is Another Story
CNN BUSINESS - Apr 9 - Trump is reportedly planning to launch a social media platform. Last year TikTok hit the 100m user mark in the U.S. Clubhouse, Gab and Parler emerged. Early social networks like Facebook and Twitter enjoyed a distinct advantage: They were early movers. Today, advances in tech have made it trivial to establish a website and build social functionality: (Heroku on Amazon, or Microsoft Azure with code from Github). A barebones copycat of Facebook might cost $25k, but bandwidth and storage costs could quickly spiral out of control. If you ended up with tens of millions of engaged users, costs could be a $1m/mo. An even bigger challenge is figuring out what product to offer and USPs. A lot of the first invites to Clubhouse, similar to LinkedIn, went to VCs and founders. Everyone wants to join the network where the investors are. Then there's still the question of profitability.
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Parler vs. Amazon: Amazon Strikes Back!
MIND MATTERS - Apr 8 - Parler has been in a fierce legal battle with Amazon since it was removed from Amazon's platforms on Jan 10. Parler recently attempted to take the battle to state court but Amazon employed a hardball - and controversial - legal tactic to avoid the dangers of a state lawsuit. The case is now in the hands of Judge Barbara J. Rothstein, the same judge who ruled in Amazon's favor in January.
by Caitlin Bassett
See full article at Mind Matters
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Parler Says It Warned FBI Before Capitol Riot
CBS NEWS - Mar 29 - Parler is claiming that it repeatedly warned the FBI that there could be violence on Jan 6. The app sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee saying it developed "formal lines of communication" with the FBI to refer to violent threats made on its platform. Days and weeks before rioters pushed their way into the U.S. Capitol, Parler says it referred violent content to the FBI more than 50 times, including specific threats being planned. "Parler even alerted law enforcement to specific threats of violence being planned on the Capitol," the letter said.
by Catherine Herridge & Caitlin Yilek
See full article at CBS News
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Ex-CEO Sues Parler Over 'Arrogant Theft,' Claims Site Was 'Hijacked'
NPR - Mar 24 - The co-founder and former CEO of Parler has sued the conservative social media platform over his firing this year. John Matze claims Parler's leadership took away his 40% stake in the company in an "arrogant theft," intimidated and bullied him in an ouster he says was illegal and left him owed millions of dollars. "Parler was now being hijacked to advance the personal political interests and personal advantages of the Defendants rather than serve as the free expression platform as originally conceived," Matze's suit says. The suit, which claims breach of contract and defamation, also names Jeffrey Wernick, Parler's chief operating officer; interim CEO Mark Meckler; and right-wing personality Dan Bongino as defendants. None has yet responded to the lawsuit's allegations.
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Apple Denied Parler Re-entry to the App Store
MASHABLE - Mar 12 - Apple denied Parler re-entry to the App Store after reviewing the new guidelines. "After having reviewed the new information, we do not believe these changes are sufficient to comply with App Store Review guidelines. There is no place for hateful, racist, discriminatory content on the App Store," Apple wrote to Parler's chief policy officer. Apple also provided some screenshots to support the above, including those of user profile pictures with swastikas, as well as posts and user names that are racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
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Parler Files New Lawsuit Against Amazon, Alleging Anticompetitive Conduct
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - Mar 5 - Parler LLC has filed a new lawsuit against Amazon as the company continues its dispute with the tech giant for ending web-hosting services for the social network. The lawsuit came as Parler filed a motion to withdraw a case it brought against Amazon in Seattle federal court in January. Parler had until Tuesday to file an amended complaint after a federal judge denied the company's bid to compel Amazon to resume service. Parler accused Amazon of ending service to the social-media platform for anticompetitive reasons. Gene Schaerr, a lawyer for Parler, said the lawsuit also aims to "hold Amazon responsible for falsely attempting to make Parler the scapegoat for the Capitol riot, and for the enormous damage caused by Amazon's illegal actions."
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Parler Temporarily Blocked Its Founder
BUZZFEED NEWS - Feb 22 - Parler, the social media site popular among conservatives, appeared to have banned its co-founder and former CEO before restoring his access later in the day. John Matze, whom Parler's management fired earlier this month, believed he had been banned after making several posts and comments on the platform earlier this week. Screenshots that Matze shared on a Telegram channel showed that his account had been made "private" after he'd made a post asking his 722k Parler followers what they thought the "fair market value" of the company was. "I know it's a ban because I know how the architecture works," Matze said. "I can't log in anymore."
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Parler's Interim CEO Invites Trump and Biden for 'Civil Discourse'
WIO NEWS - FEB 18 - A day after the social networking app Parler came back online on the internet, its interim CEO, Mark Meckler, has invited Donald Trump and US President Joe Biden to join the world of Parler. "What Parler's really about is being a public square, and a public square is where anybody can come, they can say what they want as long as it's legal. And Donald Trump hasn't said anything illegal, as far as I'm aware. He certainly didn't on Twitter, didn't on Facebook or any of the other places that he was banned," Meckler said.
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Parler Crawls Back Online Empty and With a Tea Party CEO
TECH CRUNCH - Feb 16 - Parler, a social network adopted by the far-right and recently kicked off AWS for its userbase's habit of advocating violence, is back online. Users can now log in to Parler on the web, but when they do they will find that all their old posts and content have been removed. The new site is described in a statement as using "sustainable, independent technology and not reliant on so-called 'Big Tech' for its operations." Meanwhile, the operation is being overseen by a new interim CEO, Mark Meckler. Meckler is the founder of the Tea Party Patriots, staunch opponents of Obamacare, and big fans of debunked COVID-19 treatment hydroxychloroquine.
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Parler CEO Fired as Service Remains Offline
CNET - Feb 5 - Parler has been down since Amazon stopped providing services in early January. John Matze, CEO of Parler, a social media platform that was forced offline for allowing inflammatory posts about the Capitol Hill insurrection, was fired by the company's board. The management ouster comes as Parler, which had become a haven for racist and extremist content, remains unavailable to users. Parler was booted offline in January, when Amazon Web Services cut services to it, a move that followed decisions by Apple and Google to stop distributing the social network's mobile apps. The conservative microblogging site sued to have its service restored.
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Parler Responds to Judge's Refusal to Restore Website
NEWSWEEK - Jan 25 - Parler has said it was "disappointed" by a judge's refusal to help restore access to hosting via Amazon Web Services (AWS). Parler lost a bid to obtain a preliminary injunction against the tech giant, which suspended Parler's account over alleged failures in moderating extreme content from its users. Parler said that it had not been acknowledged that other social media companies also host extreme user content, suggesting that it had been unfairly targeted. Parler said it has developed an AI-based enforcement system which, it believes, can be rolled out to reduce unwanted user content. Judge Barbara J. Rothstein ruled that granting an injunction was not yet viable despite Parler's claims about a new AI-based moderation tool.
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Parler Tries to Survive With Help From Russian Company
NEW YORK TIMES - Jan 21 - Parler, the social network popular with Trump supporters, is trickling back to life after went offline since Amazon booted it from its computer servers for not consistently removing violent posts. Parler now has entered into business with DDoS-Guard, a Russian firm that routes internet traffic and protects websites from cyberattacks. With its help, visitors to Parler.com now find a basic webpage with a promise from Parler's chief executive, John Matze, that "our return is inevitable." But the use of a Russian company is worrying some researchers who study the internet and Russia. If Parler routes its web traffic through DDoS-Guard when its full website returns, Russian law could enable the Russian government to surveil Parler's users.
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Parler Moves Domain Registrar
BUSINESS 2 COMMUNITY - Jan 15 - Parler, which calls itself "The Unbiased Social Media Site", and which has received media attention due to its use by political extremists, has moved their Parler.com domain from the registrar, Dreamhost.com to another registrar, Epik.com. Parler has been having difficulty maintaining continued crucial services, based on decisions by service providers that they do not want to be associated with the conduct of Parler's users. Parler.com does not resolve to a working website which further confirms Amazon Web Services (AWS) has decided to no longer offer their services to them.
by Jeffrey Gabriel
See full article at Business 2 Community
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