Parler’s website reappears online

The website for the social media platform Parler reappeared on Sunday after Amazon last week suspended the site from its web hosting service. 

The website shared a new message from Parler CEO John Matze asking “Hello world, is this thing on?” 

“Now seems like the right time to remind you all — both lovers and haters — why we started this platform,” a post on the website below Matze’s statement said. “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.” 

Parler’s domain now appears to be registered with Epik, CNN reported. The company has supported Gab, 8chan and other platforms favored by far-right groups.

A spokesperson for Epik told the outlet that the company is not providing Parler’s web hosting.

The social media platform has found popularity among some conservative and right-wing groups for its lack of content moderation, with many migrating there after mainstream sites like Facebook and Twitter took steps to down on misinformation. 

It also saw a surge in popularity following the riot at the Capitol earlier this month in which a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building and interrupted Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote in the race for the White House between President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. 

It went dark on Jan. 10 after its suspension by Amazon Web Services.

Parler last week sued Amazon, alleging that its suspension from the company’s online hosting service violated antitrust law and breached the companies’ contracts.

Parler’s complaint accused Amazon of applying a politically motivated double standard to the platform and of reducing “competition in the microblogging services market to the benefit of Twitter.”

Attorneys for Amazon last week defended the company’s move and said that Parler demonstrated an “unwillingness and inability” to remove content that “threatens the public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture, and assassination of named public officials and private citizens.”

A Tuesday court filing from Amazon said that the company “repeatedly” notified Parler that its content violated their agreement and requested removal, “only to determine that Parler was both unwilling and unable to do so.”

Apple and Google have also suspended Parler from their app stores and called on the platform to tighten its content moderation rules. 

UPDATED: This story was updated Jan. 18 at 11:33 a.m. to reflect corrected information from CNN about Epik’s business relationship with Parler.