Parler CEO John Matze has been fired as the conservative social media network remains offline since being booted from Amazon servers, according to a report.
“On January 29, 2021, the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO of Parler. I did not participate in this decision,”
Matze wrote.
“I understand that those who now control the company have made some communications to employees and other third parties that have unfortunately created confusion and prompted me to make this public statement.”
According to FOX Business Matze wrote that over the past few months he has been met with “constant resistance” to his original vision for the social media platform following Amazon Web Services’ decision to shut Parler down for failure to moderate “egregious content” related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Over the past few months, I’ve met constant resistance to my product vision, my strong belief in free speech and my view of how the Parler site should be managed. For example, I advocated for more product stability and what I believe is a more effective approach to content moderation,”
Matze wrote.
Parler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I have worked endless hours and fought constant battles to get the Parler site running but at this point, the future of Parler is no longer in my hands,” he continued. “I want to thank the Parler employees, the people on Parler and Parler supporters for their tireless work and devotion to the company. They are an amazing group of diverse, hardworking and talented individuals and I have the utmost respect for them. Many of them have become my second family.”
Parler, which was founded in 2018, is a social media network that styles itself as a “free speech-driven” space. The app has largely attracted US conservatives who disagree with rules around content on social media sites like Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc.Parler has had about 10.8 million installs globally from across the App Store and Google Play, 8.7 million of those from the United States, according to Sensor Tower data. In January, it said it has over 12 million registered users.
However, the site is facing an uncertain future after being essentially forced offline after the 6 January attack on the US Capitol. Its website was subsequently dropped by Amazon’s cloud-hosting division, while Google and Apple had also suspended Parler from its app stores.
The site has since partially returned online with the help of a Russian-owned technology company.
Source:FoxBusiness
