USA TODAY International Edition
Parler relaunches with a new CEO weeks after Capitol riot
Parler, the self- proclaimed freespeech platform taken offline after the riot at the U. S. Capitol last month, says it has relaunched.
Mark Meckler is serving as interim CEO of Parler after its previous top executive was fired by the social media platform, which has been favored by conservatives.
Parler had been pulled from app stores run by Apple and Google and dropped by Amazon’s web hosting services after the Jan. 6 attack on the. Capitol. Parler was one of the platforms used by supporters of former President Donald Trump to chronicle what happened.
“Parler is being run by an experienced team and is here to stay,” said Meckler in a statement. “We will thrive as the premier social media platform dedicated to free speech, privacy and civil dialogue.”
In a news release Monday, Parler said it has 20 million users. The relaunch will bring the service back online for current users, while new users can start signing up next week. The company did not say which web service is hosting Parler, other than it is “built on robust, sustainable, independent technology.”
The platform also said its executive committee will conduct a “thorough search” for a permanent CEO.
This month, former CEO John Matze revealed he had been fired by the company’s board of directors. In an interview with USA TODAY, Matze said Parler was trying to muzzle him.
“These people just want to censor me,” Matze said. “Obviously, my statement about their vision not aligning with mine must be true considering they are trying to stop me from speaking my mind.”
In a statement to USA TODAY, Parler chief policy officer Amy Peikoff called Matze’s statements related to his dismissal “inaccurate and misleading.”
In January, Parler sued Amazon for taking down the site, but a federal judge ruled Amazon could not be forced to restore service.