Conservative social media app Parler is pretty much dead

January 11, 2021, 02:06:20 PM |

KATHMANDU: The social media app popular among conservatives will go dark Sunday at midnight as Amazon shuts off access to its web hosting services, and the app has been reportedly unable to find a new home.

“It’s devastating,” Parler cofounder John Matze told Fox News. “It’s an assault.” Neither he nor a Parler spokeswoman would return a Forbes request for additional comment.

Parler has become a right-wing haven during 2020, particularly during the last few months during the planning of the pro-Trump Jan. 6 riots in Washington, D.C. Conservative internet users have flooded onto Parler amid growing discontent about Twitter and Facebook, both of which have issued bans on President Trump.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Apple and Google banned Parler from their apple stores, effectively cutting off any future growth. The boot from Amazon will effectively make it impossible for it to keep operating with it unable to operate on the servers that had been powering it.

Parler reached its highest-ever rank in Apple’s U.S. download charts over the past weekend, cresting at No. 20, according to AppTopia, which monitors app downloads.

Parler was started by Matze and conservative billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer in 2018. From the beginning, they envisioned it as a total rejection of mainstream social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

These two companies have been widely criticized by conservatives, who believe they unfairly censor right-leaning content. Parler, by contrast, set itself up as a place where there was no moderation, making it a destination for users like the ones who planned the Jan. 6 riots. Forbes

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Monday January 11, 2021, 02:06:20 PM |