Parler vanished from the Internet when dropped by Amazon's
hosting arm and other partners for poor moderation after its users called for
violence and posted videos glorifying the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
On Monday, Parler's website was reachable again, though only
with a message from its chief executive saying he was working to restore
functionality.
The Internet protocol address it used is owned by
DDos-Guard, which is controlled by two Russian men and provides services
including protection from distributed denial of service attacks, infrastructure
expert Ronald Guilmette told Reuters.
If the website is fully restored, Parler users would be able
to see and post comments. Most users prefer the app, however, which remains
banned from the official Apple and Google stores.
Parler CEO John Matze and representatives of DDoS-Guard did
not reply to requests for comment.
Last Wednesday, Matze told Reuters the company was in talks
with multiple service providers but declined to elaborate.
DDoS-Guard has worked with other racist, rightist and
conspiracy sites that have been used by mass murderers to share messages,
including 8kun. It has also supported Russian government sites.
DDoS-Guard's website lists an address in Scotland under the
company name Cognitive Cloud LP, but that is owned by two men in Rostov-on-Don,
Russia, Guilmette said. One of them told the Guardian recently that he was not
aware of all of the content the company facilitates.
Parler critics said it was a potential security risk for it
to depend on a Russian company, as well as an odd choice for a site popular
with self-described patriots.
Russian propaganda has stoked political divisions in the
United States, supporting outgoing US President Donald Trump and amplifying
false narratives about election fraud but also protests against police
brutality.
Parler, which disclosed it has over 12 million users, sued
Amazon last Monday after the ecommerce giant and cloud services provider cut
off service, citing poor moderation of calls to violence.
In an update on Monday, Parler.com linked to a Fox News interview in which Matze said he was "confident" Parler would return at the end of January. © Reuters
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