Parler shows the way forward by circumventing big tech

The social media platform that offers itself as an alternative to the dominant oligopoly has managed to restore itself a month after AWS cut it off.

Parler positions itself as a free-speech alternative to selectively-policed Twitter. It was scapegoated in the aftermath of the Capitol Hill riot due to allegations that the whole thing was coordinated there. As a consequence Google and Apple kicked it off their app stores and AWS, on which the entire platform was hosted, terminated the service unilaterally and permanently.

It’s very hard to imagine AWS, or any other major cloud company, treating Twitter or Facebook in that way. Even if one of them was found to have broken one of the Byzantine and constantly changing terms of service, they would presumably be offered infinite opportunities to rectify the situation. Facebook, not Parler, was by far the most cited social media site in the official US investigation into the causes of the riot, but we’re not aware of any resulting sanctions from its fellow tech giants.

Clearly the only way Parler can now hope to exist is by making itself totally independent of this oligopoly and that’s what it seems to have done. We haven’t received any formal public announcements, but many media have reported on a Parler statement referring to it now being built on ‘sustainable, independent technology’. Surprisingly that turns out to be another US cloud provider – SkySilk – which has bravely risked pariah status by hosting Parler. Here’s its statement on the matter.

Every report we’ve seen on this topic has felt compelled to characterise Parler as a ‘right wing’ platform as if that, in itself, is reason enough for it to be punished and marginalized by the tech establishment. The tech press seems largelyhostile to Parler, citing vague concepts like ‘advocating hate’ that can just as easily be applied to all other public internet platforms. Some media will presumably trawl the platform for further speechcrimes now that it’s back up, but so long as SkySilk stands by it there’s nothing they can do.

The persecution of Parler by the tech establishment and its subsequent ability to carry on regardless could mark an inflection point in the relationship between the internet and its users. If Parler becomes a cause celebre among the political right and those opposed to censorship then there could be a lot of opportunities for alternative service providers who treat their smaller customers better than the giants currently do.