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By Jeff Horwitz and Robert McMillan 

Parler, the social network popular with conservatives, has come back online after going dark when some tech companies withdrew their services in the wake of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Amazon.com Inc. removed Parler from its cloud-computing service a little over a month ago, effectively knocking the network offline. Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google removed it from their respective app stores. The tech companies said Parler had violated terms-of-service agreements, citing some of the content posted on the app.

On Monday, Parler said it was relaunching its service, which it said had grown to over 20 million users. "We're thrilled to welcome everyone back, " Mark Meckler, Parler's interim chief executive, said in a statement. "Parler is being run by an experienced team and is here to stay," he said.

The social-media company said its new platform was "built on robust, sustainable, independent technology." It said it was focused on restoring service to existing users during the first week and that new sign-ups would come after.

Parler's Internet servers are now hosted by SkySilk Inc., which operates out of a Los Angeles-area data center, according to Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis with the network-monitoring firm Kentik Inc.

When reached via text message Monday afternoon, SkySilk's chief executive, Kevin Matossian, declined to comment, but said the company would issue a statement imminently.

The resumption of Parler service wasn't seamless. After re-establishing service on Monday morning, the platform appeared to again be inaccessible to at least some users in the afternoon. Parler didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the service disruption.

Parler previously had used Russian service provider DDoS-Guard to speed up delivery of its internet traffic. As of Monday, however, Parler wasn't using DDos-Guard or a similar service -- something that could lead to sluggish performance for the social-media network, Mr. Madory said. "This isn't going to support a lot of traffic, so maybe there are plans that we don't know about," he said.

New community guidelines posted on Parler's website said the platform was "viewpoint neutral" and the company wouldn't knowingly allow it to be used as a tool for crime or unlawful acts.

John Matze, Parler's CEO at the time the service went dark, said then that the service could be offline for weeks with efforts under way to restore the app. Parler fired Mr. Matze late last month as the platform was working to restore service.

According to Mr. Matze and statements by Parler executives, internal debate over how to respond to the blockade by major technology platforms may have contributed to his ouster. Mr. Matze told The Wall Street Journal after his termination that he had been looking for a way to win Apple's and Google's approval for Parler's restoration to their app stores. To address the tech giants' moderation concerns, he said, he was amenable to some form of algorithmic content moderation in addition to the platform's system of deputizing users as community jurors.

While Parler's owners haven't spoken directly about the substance of their disagreement with Mr. Matze, Parler investor Dan Bongino said that the platform wouldn't cave in to the tech companies' commands.

Parler, launched in 2018 and based in Henderson, Nev., said it was searching for a permanent CEO. The company said it had hired Mr. Meckler, who is affiliated with groups such as the Tea Party Patriots, to help guide Parler through its relaunch.

Social-media companies, like others, generally rely on a network of tech suppliers to deliver their online services. Those services range from data storage to more basic functions, such as connecting to the internet or registering domain names.

Parler on Monday remained suspended from Apple and Google's app stores.

The company has sued Amazon over the move to stop providing cloud services, alleging anticompetitive motives and political animus, claims that the tech giant called meritless. Parler last month failed to convince a judge to force Amazon to again provide cloud services.

Write to Jeff Horwitz at Jeff.Horwitz@wsj.com and Robert McMillan at Robert.Mcmillan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2021 18:01 ET (23:01 GMT)

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