The Parler social network on multiple screens.AFP
Parler prepares his return and everything indicates that he will operate from the cold Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a 13-hour drive from Moscow.
The controversial social network, which has served as a haven for far-right sympathizers, advocates of conspiracy theories and members of various white supremacy groups, was removed two weeks ago from the Google and Apple app store and its storage service was closed by Amazon for allowing the creation and publication of messages that incited violence and hate speech.
Now, Parler has reached out to DDoS-Guard, a Russian cybersecurity and internet traffic company, to get back on track.
"Unlike most other companies, we provide services using our own network of scrubbing centers that have enough channels and computing capabilities to process large volumes of traffic," the Russian company explains on its website.
Although neither the platform nor the application are active, thanks to the services of DDoS-Guard there is already a Parler website in which the company assures that it will solve "any challenge" it has and that it plans to "welcome it soon" to its users.
On the page are some messages of support for Parler from such personalities as Republican Senator Rand Paul,
Fox News anchor
Sean Hannity and writer Amy Peikoff.
The social network, which began to gain fame in mid-2020 when traditional social networks tightened their publication policies to prevent the spread of fake news and the spread of violent messages on their platforms, begins to pave its way after the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday, January 20, and the fall of Donald Trump.
But the service that DDoS-Guard provides to Parler is still not entirely clear.
The Russian company has explained to
CNN
via email that for now they do not provide hosting services for Parler.
But they have not denied that there is a rapprochement between them and the social network.
“We do not have the freedom to disclose the services provided to our clients, regardless of their focus or audience, as it contradicts our privacy policy.
Any client can access and use our services as long as their activities are not prohibited in the country and they do not violate any law, ”the company wrote to journalist Brian Fung.
For his part, Jeffrey Wernick, Parler's director of operations, explained to
The New York Times
that "DDoS-Guard only supports a temporary web page for Parler" and that Parler "would try to find other companies to operate its complete social network, in preferably an American firm ”.
Wernick has called the media reaction to Parler and DDoS-Guard's approach "overblown".
However, when it comes to privacy, "overdoing it" falls short in Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Russian espionage
An investigation by the
TechCrunch
medium
revealed that there was an espionage operation in Russian cities that, through devices "directly connected to the networks of some of the country's largest telephone and Internet companies," allowed the Russian authorities to gain access to the calls, messages and customer data of the largest telephone provider in the country.
"These computers give access to the Russian security services to the calls and messages of millions of citizens, but they remain secret, despite the fact that the telephone and web companies operating in Russia are required by law to install them on their networks" , they explain in research published in September 2019.
TechCrunch's
investigation
put the Russian surveillance system, known as System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM, or COPM, in Russian) in the eye of the hurricane again.
If Parler controls his web traffic through the Russian DDoS-Guard, could Russian law allow the government to monitor the content of users of the social network?
It would not be the first time that Russia has spied on US users.
In 2016, Facebook starred in a scandal involving the Kremlin, former President Donald Trump and a
troll
farm
in St. Petersburg.
The company was involved in a large investigation to prove Moscow's interference in Trump's re-election.
But DDoS-Guard has denied that this is the case.
Despite being a company based in Russia, Parler's new partner has assured
CNN
that they do not provide "any customer information or any other data to government authorities, excluding cases explicitly established by law."
"We do not want to be involved in the political scene of any country in the world," says the Russian company.
But in doing business with Parler, politics is included in the game.
If not, ask Matze.
"Our return is inevitable," says the founder of the social network that was born with Trump and fell, until now, with the departure of the Republican from the White House.
Chronicle of an abrupt farewell
Parler is not a thing of 2021. The social network emerged in 2018, but it was not until August 2020 when it added its first million users when it managed to find a niche: to be the alternative to Twitter for the thousands of users of Trump's favorite network who, disappointed by the new privacy and publication policies on the main platforms, were looking for an “uncensored” space, as this social network is usually sold, which does not like to carry the sanmbenito with which it is usually defined, “la ultra-right network ”.
By November 2020, the month of the US electoral contest in which the Democrat Joe Biden prevailed over the Republican while he popularized an alleged "electoral fraud", the social network had taken off: it increased its number of users eight times compared to the last July.
Just when everyone was talking about her, she had another opportunity to shine when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC on Wednesday, January 6, to avoid the ceremony to make the electoral votes official that would close, once and for all, the electoral dispute and would recognize Biden as the elected candidate for the country's presidency.
Now, Parler has gone from heaven to the ground.
The app was removed by Google and Apple from their app stores and Amazon ripped it off their web host just after midnight, Monday, January 11.
While Parler sues Amazon for breach of contract and Joe Biden assumes the presidency of the United States, its more than 12 million users are looking for new alternatives on Internet social platforms.
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