Parler Apparently Temporarily Blocked Its Own Co-Founder and Former CEO

“Parler, the social media site popular among conservatives, appeared to have banned its cofounder and former CEO on Friday,” reports BuzzFeed News, “before restoring his access later in the day.” An anonymous Slashdot reader shares their report:
John Matze, whom Parler’s management fired earlier this month, told BuzzFeed News that he believed he had been banned after making several posts and comments…

Parler is Back Online, More Than a Month After Tangle With Amazon Knocked it Offline

Parler is back online following several weeks of darkness after the social media site popular with supporters of former president Donald Trump was knocked offline. From a reportL: Parler effectively fell off the Internet in January when Amazon refused to provide technical cloud computing support to the site after the tech giant determined Parler was not doing enough to moderate and…

Parler CEO John Matze Says Company’s Board Fired Him

John Matze, CEO and co-founder of far-right friendly social media platform Parler, said on LinkedIn Wednesday that he has been terminated. Axios reports: Parler has been at the center of controversy since Amazon Web Services, Apple and Google unplugged the network last month for its lack of content moderation related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In a memo obtained by…

New Site Extracts and Posts Every Face from Parler’s Capitol Hill Insurrection Videos

“Late last week, a website called Faces of the Riot appeared online, showing nothing but a vast grid of more than 6,000 images of faces, each one tagged only with a string of characters associated with the Parler video in which it appeared,” reports WIRED, saying the site raises clear privacy concerns: The site’s creator tells WIRED that he used simple,…

Federal Judge Blocks Parler’s Bid To Be Restored on Amazon Web Services

A federal judge has denied Parler’s request for a court order blocking Amazon from kicking the social media app off its platform, marking yet another setback in Parler’s efforts to get back online. From a report: Judge Barbara Rothstein issued a ruling on Thursday saying that Parler had not met the legal requirements for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction….

DDoS-Guard To Forfeit Internet Space Occupied By Parler

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Krebs On Security: Parler, the beleaguered social network advertised as a “free speech” alternative to Facebook and Twitter, has had a tough month. Apple and Google removed the Parler app from their stores, and Amazon blocked the platform from using its hosting services. Parler has since found a home in DDoS-Guard, a Russian digital…

Tim Cook: Why I Kicked Parler Off Apple’s App Store

Charlotte Web shares a report from CNN: Apple, along with Amazon and Google, effectively kicked Parler off the internet in the wake of the January 6 US Capitol siege. Despite criticism that Big Tech wields too much power over speech, Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his decision. “We looked at the incitement to violence that was on there,” Apple CEO Tim…

Amazon Begins Removing QAnon Goods For Sale

Long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo quotes the Washington Post: Amazon said it will remove merchandise related to QAnon, a discredited conspiracy theory that the FBI has identified as a potential domestic terrorist threat, just a day after the e-commerce giant suspended the pro-Trump social media site Parler from using its cloud computing technology. Amazon is beginning to remove QAnon products from its…

EFF, Cory Doctorow Warn About the Dangers of De-Platforming and Censorship

Last week Cory Doctorow shared his own answer for what Apple and Google should’ve done about Parler:
They should remove it, and tell users, “We removed Parler because we think it is a politically odious attempt to foment violence. Our judgment is subjective and may be wielded against others in future. If you don’t like our judgment, you shouldn’t use our app…

Parler Users Breached Deep Inside US Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in…