Parler users can turn to Gab, Telegram or MeWe

Speak, the largely unmoderated social network popular with conservatives, often finds fans ridiculing Big Tech. But after the site was taken off the internet over the weekend, it’s more evident than ever that even fringe services have to rely on mainstream tech providers. Now Parler is apparently trying to rebuild – with or without Big Tech’s help.

On Monday, it was reported that Parler registered his domain with Epik, a web hosting service that previously housed Gab, the far-right forum used by the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter. At this time, it’s unclear where that effort stands: Epik previously said he had no relationship with Speak, though at least one company executive appears open to work with the platform.

Parler’s shutdown comes in the wake of the January 6 riot, in which crowds of people who opposed the 2020 presidential election results stormed the U.S. Capitol. Prior to the insurgency, posts on Speak encouraged violence in Washington as President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was finalized on Capitol Hill, and thereafter the platform continued to host violent content, including threats against the uprising. Vice President Mike Pence.

Several large tech companies, including Google, Amazon, and Apple, severed relationships with Parler in the days following the event. This effectively took the platform offline, around the same time that Facebook indefinitely suspended and Twitter permanently banned President Trump.

“Civil society and others have raised concerns about Speaking well before last week for the types of extremism, racism and anti-Semitism that have flourished on this site,” said Isedua Oribhabor, analyst. US politician at digital rights group Access Now, which described the platform as “a place that has attracted extremists because of their lax or non-existent form of content moderation.”

By shutting down Talk, several tech companies said they were trying to reduce the risk of violence and force the platform to adopt a more aggressive moderation of calls for violence. Parler’s collapse also showed the tech industry’s immense power to control what appears on the web and in app stores. Now, as Parler searches for ways to get back online, he faces an uphill battle to rebuild himself without the help of Big Tech. That or that might turn into something different and more strictly moderate.

To get back online, Parler may change tone on content moderation

In the aftermath of the violence at the Capitol, The politicians, militant groups, and employees of companies that have worked with Parler have started calling for action against the platform for its role in spurring the insurgency.

Google was the first to start Talking from its Play Store on January 8. Apple gave Speak 24 hours to implement stricter moderation policies, but after failing, Apple removed Speak from its App Store on January 9. Amazon suspended Talking from its website. hosting service on January 10, following pressure from company employees as well as at least one legislator, representative Ro Khanna (D-CA). Amazon told Parler in a letter obtained by Recode that the violent content on the platform – and its lack of moderation – meant Parler violated the terms of Amazon’s service agreement.

There are indications that Parler may try to change its approach to moderation in order to get back online, although it is not clear to what extent Amazon would be willing to work with the platform again.

When Apple contacted Parler threatening to ban the app, Parler volunteered to create a content moderation “task force” for now, though Apple said the effort was not. sufficient and did not meet his requirements. Under threat of being started, Parler told Amazon that it plans to moderate its content more aggressively with volunteers, which Amazon said Parler “wouldn’t work given the growing number of violent posts.” Talk also removed content after being contacted by Amazon and Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A Google spokesperson told Recode that Parler has been suspended “until” it resolves its moderation issues, and Apple made a similar statement.

While Parler’s leadership has always been defiant of its lack of moderation – and criticizes companies like Facebook and Twitter for their moderation – Parler CEO John Matze released a statement on Sunday saying that apparently back of this position, which he had expressed openly a few days earlier.

“Talking is not a surveillance app, so we can’t just write a few algorithms that will quickly locate 100% of objectionable content, especially during times of rapid growth and the seemingly coordinated malicious attacks that accompany that growth. “Matze said, adding that the platform was striving to improve and would receive” feedback. ”

Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that Parler users were intimately involved in the planning and execution of the Capitol Riot. After a security researcher archived nearly all of Parler’s messages – including the GPS coordinates of users’ video locations – before Amazon started it from its servers, a Gizmodo analysis found that several users of Parler Speak ventured deep into the United States Capitol on January 6. users cheer and celebrate the raid on the Capitol, with some appearing to be the focus of events.

Talking might come back without Big Tech’s help, but it might take a while

When Reddit banned a pro-Trump subreddit called the_donald last June, amid an expansion of its hate speech policies, forum members turned to the messaging platform Discord, before also be banned from this platform. When the far-right conspiracy theory site 8chan was abandoned by its service providers following the mass shooting in El Paso in 2019, it was ultimately reformed to 8kun. And when Gab, a right-wing social network used by the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter, was kicked out of GoDaddy, Epik brought the site back online.

Talking can follow in the footsteps of these fringe services to get back online, a complicated effort that could take time. With many platforms reluctant to work with Parler – The Wall Street Journal reported that Oracle will not provide cloud services to Parler and that Microsoft does not have a hosting contract with Parler – Parler CEO said that the company was now considering other cloud providers, although it’s unclear. what businesses that could be. Some experts doubt Talking’s ability to bounce back after being started from Amazon Web Services and say it will be incredibly difficult and could take some time. “Talking will have to build its own infrastructure,” according to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of ZDNet.

At the same time, Dan Bongino, a right-wing conservative commentator who has invested in the site, recently said on Fox that he was prepared to go bankrupt to help Talk back.

And, of course, the site might be successful in convincing Epik to host it. Epik vice chairman Robert Davis hinted in a statement that his company would be prepared to work with Speak if it developed moderation policies that could reduce violence. Davis too Told New York Times tech reporter Jack Nicas said Parler had previously registered his domain with Epik without Epik’s knowledge. If a deal is made, Davis added, it could take about 10 days for a preview version of Speak to get back online and up to three months for a full version of the site to come back online. Epik did not respond to Recode’s request for comment.

Talking may be gone, but its users are not

It will probably be some time before Parler comes back in full force. In the meantime, potential Talking users will likely use other apps, says Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

“Before Talking got dark, as we watched the platform, we saw discussions about where people were going to migrate – Telegram or Gab, etc.,” Segal told Recode. “They are always preparing for the next destination, anticipating that the platform of their choice will decline.”

These users turn to multiple platforms and services. Telegram, an email platform that claims to have half a billion users and is increasingly known for hosting far-right channels, has seen an increase in downloads. Gab, a predominantly right-wing social network, also reported an increase in traffic. Then there’s the lesser-known MeWe site, a Facebook-like platform that recently saw the number of downloads on the site triple, according to data obtained by Axios.

“People who don’t want to go back to Facebook, who are angry with Twitter, they’re going to look for these alternative spaces,” noted Diara Townes, an investigative researcher and head of community engagement in the face of disinformation. First Draft research firm. “They’ll have to navigate new user experiences through these platforms, but they’re going to seek out these spaces.”

“And the more they’re pushed to the side, the more fringing those spaces are going to become,” Townes added.

So even if Parler doesn’t come back, its users don’t leave. We already know that white supremacist and conspiracy theory communities that are taken offline have returned to the web in the past, and all signs point to the eventual resurrection of Parler.

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