The announcement arrived on the evening of February 15. After more than a month offline, the social network for Conservatives Talking is back – although its app is still not available in Apple and Google stores.
Admittedly, the site is still difficult to access, but even in this state, it is an improvement since its closure in early January, shortly after the Capitol uprising prepared, in part, on the alternative social network. Parler then claimed 15 million users, a figure that has risen sharply since Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election and the measures taken by Twitter and Facebook, and in particular the suspension of Donald Trump’s accounts. And far above the figures posted by its main competitor, Gab, which has also experienced significant growth in recent months.
In turn, Google and Apple had removed the application from their application store, before Amazon took the site completely offline by cutting off access to its servers on January 11. All criticized Parler for its shortcomings in moderation of publications.
After wondering for a while if the social network could ever come back – “Everyone has let us down, even our lawyers”, he regretted – John Matze, CEO of Parler, had promised a quick return. Still, Parler only displayed a static page for several weeks. As the teams worked to get the site back on track, behind the scenes things changed dramatically. John Matze was fired by the main shareholder, billionaire Rebekah Mercer, and replaced by Mark Meckler, a figure of the American right who was in particular at the origin of the Tea Party Patriots, a movement resulting from the Tea Party.
Talking about having to do without Amazon and its servers
The new CEO is, moreover, no stranger to the Mercer family. The latter has funded multiple ultra-right projects, including the Breitbart News site. Mr. Meckler is thus the president of Convention of States, a project launched with the support of the foundation of Robert Mercer, the father of Rebekah. Rather accustomed to economic battles, Convention of States was at the forefront of the anti-confinement movement in the United States, the Washington post in April 2020.
Forced to do without Amazon and its servers, Parler finally chose to rely on SkySilk, an American company, which defended its choice to host the alternative social network and said it was convinced that Parler had made the necessary arrangements. matter of moderation. “Let’s be clear, SkySilk does not advocate hatred, but upholds the right to private opinion, and rejects the role of judge, jury and executioner. SkySilk does not promote the message, but the right of the sender to publish it. SkySilk will champion Parler’s efforts to become a non-partisan public place, as we believe this is the only appropriate solution. “
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