Parler website is back online after Amazon brought it offline - CNET

Parler is back online.
Screenshot by Sareena Dayaram/CNET

After Amazon, Google, and Apple forced Parler offline in the wake of the deadly insurrection of the US Capitol, the social networking company managed to make an online comeback on Sunday.

The social media website, which is popular with supporters of President Donald Trump, has not regained full operability, but Parler's CEO John Matze is reportedly "confident" it will reappear in its entirety by the end of January.

"Our return is inevitable due to hard work, and persistence against all odds," reads a post by Matze on the Parler website.

"Despite the threats and harassment not one Parler employee has quit. We are becoming closer and stronger as a team."

The social networking site went dark when Amazon stopped providing it cloud hosting services after it was revealed the platform was used to help organize the Capitol Hill attack on Jan. 6, which left five people dead. Amazon's actions followed moves by Apple and Google to ban the Parler mobile app from their respective stores. The Parler app, which is more popular with its user base, remains unavailable.

The Parler social media app on Apple's App Store is no longer available.

Stephen Shankland/CNET

Questions have been raised over how Parler returned online following its ejection from the internet. The Parler domain is registered with Epik, according to domain name database WHOIS. An Epik statement published Monday, however, says the company had "no contact or discussions with Parler in any form regarding our becoming their registrar or hosting provider."

Citing an infrastructure expert, a Reuters report indicated the IP address Epic used is owned by DDos-Guard, which is "controlled by two Russian men and provides services including protection from distributed denial of service attacks." The company that owns DDos-Guard is called Cognitive Cloud LP, according to the report.