Parler’s New Web Host: Doesn’t Condone All Posts, but Supports Freedom of Speech

The social media website from Parler displayed on a computer screen in Arlington, Va., on July 2, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

The company that helped get Parler back up and running says it may not agree with all the posts on the platform, but it supports freedom of speech.

Parler is a social media website that saw an explosion in growth last month when Twitter banned then-President Donald Trump and other conservatives. Shortly thereafter, Amazon Web Services booted Parler off its servers, alleging it was used to plan the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Parler reemerged on Feb. 15.

Parler is being hosted by SkySilk Cloud Services, which has data centers in New York and Los Angeles.

SkySilk CEO Kevin Matossian said the company is aware of what happened to Parler.

“Let me be clear: SkySilk does not advocate nor condone hate, rather, it advocates the right to private judgment and rejects the role of being the judge, jury, and executioner,” he said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, too many of our fellow technology providers seem to differ in their position on this subject. SkySilk truly believes and supports the freedom of speech and more specifically the rights afforded to us in the First Amendment. This is a non-negotiable issue for us. And while we may disagree with some of the sentiment found on the Parler platform, we cannot allow First Amendment rights to be hampered or restricted by anyone or any organization.”

Amazon in its rationale for removing Parler accused the company of not having strong enough moderation practices. That line of reasoning was also forwarded by Apple and Google when the technology giants booted Parler’s application from their app stores.

Former Parler CEO John Matze told The Epoch Times last month that he believed the platform was being held to a different standard than Twitter and Facebook, which were also allegedly used to plan the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Matze also said Parler was working on strengthening its moderation practices.

Matossian, the SkySilk CEO, said Parler “is taking the necessary steps to better monitor its platform and applauds the release of new Community Guidelines.”

“SkySilk will support Parler in their efforts to be a nonpartisan Public Square as we are convinced this is the only appropriate course of action,” he added.

Parler’s interim CEO, Mark Meckler, told The Epoch Times on Monday that the platform is now on “robust, sustainable, totally independent technology from Big Tech,” or the compendium of corporations such as Amazon and Google.

“Getting it up and running this quickly with the total tech wipeout that we had, I think this is absolutely miraculous. And we'll get stronger day by day,” he added.

Parler has billed itself as the platform for free speech and that vision remains, Meckler said, even after Matze was fired last month.

Parler’s Executive Committee is searching for a permanent CEO.