On February 15, 2021 the Parler social media platform announced that they would finally be coming back online this week with new servers and under the new leadership of Interim CEO Mark Meckler, an attorney, entrepreneur, and free speech advocate. The platform will take time to propagate across the internet, but within the week everyone should be able to login and new members will be able to sign up.
In an interview Mark Meckler said, “We are off of the big tech platform, so that we can consider ourselves safe and secure for the future,” Meckler said in an interview.
The new Parler platform is now using artificial intelligence as well as human editors to check for illegal speech that violates its service agreement, but the Parler platform will otherwise continue to provide a nonpartisan public square allowing for free speech, without censorship.
Amazon Web Services removed Parler’s social media platform from its services on January 11, 2021, which took the social media platform down. At the time, Parler, which is considered a “free speech” platform, was seeing a very large surge of users as many prominent conservatives and others were being banned from Twitter, Facebook, and many other platforms.
Dan Bongino was one of the reasons so many conservatives were moving to the Parler platform. Dan became a shareholder in Paler to help provide an alternative to the social media censorship of other platforms.
Added on January 16, 2021
Parler’s website first cam came back online on Sunday, January 16, 2021 with a simple message from its CEO, John Matze, who said, “Hello world, is this thing on?”
Along with his hello world message, John Matze also issued a temporary status update which included the reason that Parler was started:
“Now seems like the right time to remind you all—both lovers and haters—why we started this platform,” Matze. “We believe privacy is paramount and free speech essential, especially on social media. Our aim has always been to provide a nonpartisan public square where individuals can enjoy and exercise their rights to both. We will resolve any challenge before us and plan to welcome all of you back soon. We will not let civil discourse perish!”
Added on January 15-18, 2021
On January 18, 2021 Dan Bongino, part owner of Parler and Rumble also posted on the home page of Parler saying:
“We will NEVER stop fighting. NEVER. This fight is bigger than me, and it’s bigger than Parler. If they’re allowed to silence us, they can silence anyone. It stops now. Please stand with us in this fight for liberty, truth and freedom.”
John Matze went on to say,
“Our return is inevitable due to hard work, and persistence against all odds. Despite the threats and harrasement not one Parler employee has quit. We are becoming closer and stronger as a team.
Amy Peikoff posted as well saying,
“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love … Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.’ … And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….’ So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men…were [all] crucified for the same crime–the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Might this be the year that all of us, regardless of political belief, become extremists for freedom of expression and privacy? Wouldn’t that turn 2021 on its head?
Added on January 20, 2021
Sean Hannity posted:
“I’ve spent my entire career fighting for free speech, even for those I strongly disagree with. We stand with Parler in the fight for free and open dialogue.”
Senator Rand Paul posted:
“Competition is the surest means to preserving free speech. Everyone, left right, should be horrified at BIG tech’s attempting to stamp out speech. I wish Parler and all other innovations success in keeping the marketplace of ideas open and uncensored.”
Mark Levin posted:
Those who continue to lie about the president by accusing him of igniting or being part of a violent insurrection, supported his impeachment, and now intend to pursue him in a bogus trial once he’s out of office, will be judged harshly by history. And the ideological and political purge now underway, striking at virtually all of the fundamental principles upon which this nation was founded, will be condemned as mob rule amok. I just hope our republic can withstand this onslaught until sensible people and possible statesmen step forward and stem this tyranny.
Added on January 21, 2021
Parler: 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.
Parler: 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.
