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Parler got back online with the help of a small web services company that wants to support the controversial platform’s free-speech-focused mission.
California-based SkySilk Cloud Services confirmed that it’s providing “private cloud infrastructure and support services” for Parler, which relaunched Monday after a month-long outage.
SkySilk CEO Kevin Matossian said his company backs Parler’s efforts to create an uncensored online public square despite the concerns about violent posts from right-wing users that led Amazon Web Services to boot the social network from its servers.
“Let me be clear, Skysilk does not advocate nor condone hate, rather, it advocates the right to private judgment and rejects the role of being the judge, jury, and executioner,” Matossian said in a statement released Monday evening. “Unfortunately, too many of our fellow technology providers seem to differ in their position on this subject.”
Parler touts itself as a free-speech haven for users of all political stripes. It is popular with supporters of ex-President Donald Trump and right-wing activists, who flocked to the site as larger platforms such as Twitter and Facebook cracked down on misinformation after the November presidential election.
Amazon cut ties with the startup over its failure to police threats of violence that its users posted in the wake of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riots at the Capitol. Apple and Google also removed Parler’s app from their app stores over similar concerns.
But Matossian said SkySilk has been reassured by the steps Parler is taking to “better monitor its platform” and the site’s revamped community guidelines, which prohibit posts that constitute “crime, civil torts, or other unlawful acts.”
“SkySilk truly believes and supports the freedom of speech and more specifically the rights afforded to us in the First Amendment,” Matossian said. “While we may disagree with some of the sentiment found on the Parler platform, we cannot allow first amendment rights to be hampered or restricted by anyone or any organization.”
Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
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