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- Talking relaunched with a Tea Party Patriots co-founder at the top.
- The social media platform was taken offline by Amazon Web Services in January.
- The site, a favorite of the far right, has proven to be a planning hub for insurgents on Capitol Hill.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
Speak, the far-right’s favorite social media platform, announced on Monday that it was back online after being ditched by an Amazon hosting service on January 11.
The site became a haven for pro-Trump extremists before and during the Capitol uprising. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has found that this “poses a very real risk to public safety.”
On Monday, the company announced that the site is up and running with a Tea Party co-founder as interim CEO. Mark Meckler, lawyer, political activist and founder of the Tea Party Patriots, replaced former CEO and co-founder John Matze, who was sacked by the company’s board earlier this month.
Read more: How Silicon Valley Banned Donald Trump in 48 Hours
In a statement on Monday, Meckler said: “Talking was designed to offer a social media platform that protects freedom of expression and values privacy and civil speech,” underscoring the platform’s emphasis. form on freedom of expression. “Parler is led by an experienced team and is here to stay. We will thrive as the premier social media platform dedicated to freedom of expression, privacy and civil dialogue,” the statement said.
—Tyler Adkisson (@tyadkisson) February 15, 2021
According to publicly available WHOIS data, the domain is registered with Epik, which also hosts Gab, another far-right social media platform.
A spokesperson did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.
Speak is largely funded by Rebekah Mercer, a conservative mega-honorary whose family were among the most influential supporters of then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016. Dan Bongino, a conservative activist, also said he was co-owner.
The company came under intense scrutiny after the Capitol uprising, as it emerged rioters had used Speak and other platforms to coordinate the attack.
Apple and Google pulled Parler from their app stores shortly after the insurgency, saying it continued to allow content that threatened to escalate violence in violation of their policies. Amazon then removed Parler’s access to its web hosting services, and other tech companies refused to do business with it, taking the platform offline.
Talk will immediately bring back its current users in the first week of the relaunch and intends to allow new users to sign up the following week, the statement said.
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