- John Matze, co-founder of Parler, was removed from the CEO’s post.
- Parler was de-platformed after its role in the US Capitol riot.
- The House Oversight Committee called for an FBI investigation into Parler’s involvement.
Parler’s social media platform was all but wiped off the internet last week. However, it showed some signs of life on Sunday. A message from Parler CEO John Matze appeared on the URL of the site. A post with a picture and a message featuring a ‘technical difficulties’ banner. Donie O’Sullivan of CNN first noticed the post.
“Now seems like the right time to remind everyone why we started this platform, both lovers and haters. We believe that privacy, especially on social media, is paramount and free speech essential,” the message reads. It also promises to welcome everyone back soon.
Fox News and The Wall Street Journal obtained a memo about the same. Also, Reuters received a text message with a confirmation. John Matze was the CEO and co-founder of Parler. He was fired by his company’s board of directors after his social media platform was largely wiped off the web. His LinkedIn page shows an employment closing date of January 2021.
Parler’s Removal from the Internet
Parler found itself wholly de-platformed after its role in the January 6 riots at the US Capitol. Google and Apple removed the app from its app stores. After being unsatisfied with the company’s attempts to moderate the spread of calls for violence, both Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores. Amazon decided to completely terminate AWS website hosting for the company. And although Parler attempted to sue Amazon, a judge denied a request for the reinstatement of its website hosting.
All the company’s vendors and even its lawyers have abandoned Matze. Parler would be able to return within a few weeks, he added. “I’m confident we’ll be back up by the end of the month,” Matze told Fox News on Sunday night.
“Today, Matze claims that a board led by Rebekah Mercer (of the Mercer family, which are prominent conservative donors) terminated him and suggested that he was fired because of his “strong belief in free speech” and his product vision, including “what I think is a more efficient approach to content moderation.
It could also have something to do with getting the company under his watch to run into the ground. It came to light, in addition to the difficulties of simply staying up on the internet, that Parler may have had some privacy problems. Researchers were able to scrape a huge amount of content from users.
Response to Parler’s role in Capitol riot
The House Oversight Committee even called for an FBI inquiry into the involvement of Parler in the Capitol attack. Earlier this month, Amazon dropped Parler from its web services, saying in a letter it will not offer services to a client that can not efficiently detect and delete material that promotes or incites violence against others.
Amazon’s suspension followed Apple and Google banning Parler’s software from their respective app stores. Even Parler’s lawyers had cut ties, Matze said.
Thanks to the hosting services of Epik, a company that also supports controversial websites such as Gab and 8chan, Parler currently has a website again, and Parler suggested on January 17th that it hoped “to welcome all of you back soon.” But that was over two weeks ago, and the website is mostly a timeline of complaints about how the company has been unfairly treated. Since Monday 26th January, Matze hasn’t posted there. His last post was a meme of Bernie Sanders with the text “I wish John guy was going to hurry up already.”
