In the wake In the wake of the Capitol riots two weeks ago, a number of big tech companies backed Parler, a Twitter-like social network that Donald Trump supporters have increasingly favored since its launch in 2018. Apple and Google have removed the Parler app from their digital stores, and Amazon Web Services have reduced the platform’s hosting services. After more than a week offline, the site is now partially copied, in the form of a landing page that promises a full return. To get right here, Parler has hired DDoS-Guard, a Russian digital infrastructure company, to defend it against the endless barrage of attacks that virtually all online sites face – especially those as controversial as Parler.
DDoS-Guard told WIRED that it only provides defense against denial of service attacks, not hosting the Parler site. But even this level of assistance requires access to all traffic flowing through Parler, so that it can “clean up” malicious traffic that overwhelms the site. Given the Russian government’s active efforts to isolate the country’s Internet and gain access to all data, Parler could expose its users to Russian surveillance if the site is one day fully relaunched with DDoS-Guard.
“Now seems like the right time to remind everyone – both lovers and haters – why we started this platform,” Parler’s home page now proclaims. “We believe that confidentiality is essential and freedom of expression is essential … We will solve any challenge before us and we intend to welcome you all soon.”
Parler’s chief operating officer, Jeffrey Wernick, said New York Times on Tuesday that the social network would prefer US providers and is working to find them. The platform registered its domain through Epik, based in Seattle. But while Parler has been shunned by the biggest names in the US tech industry, it claims to have more than 12 million users, making the platform too large for most small hosts. Therefore, its internal options are rare.
Embracing DDoS-Guard, even as a starting point, Parler joins a growing list of far-right sites such as 8kun (formerly 8chan) and Daily Stormer, which US infrastructure companies have beaten. offline, just to see companies in countries with limited internet freedom – like DDoS-Guard – allows their reappearance.
“At this time, Parler.com does not violate our Acceptable Use Policy or current US law to the best of our knowledge,” DDoS-Guard said in a statement to WIRED. “DDoS-Guard responsibly stores customer data without disclosing it to third parties. Moreover, the provider only stores the information necessary for the service and explicitly provided by customers. ”
But Russia has enacted laws that require technology companies to comply with government demands and has implemented a physical network infrastructure to monitor everything from web users’ IP addresses and communications to location data. The hiring of Russian infrastructure services could expose site users to surveillance schemes in the country, says Alp Toker, director of the non-partisan NetBlocks connectivity monitoring group. Most of Parler’s posts are meant to be public, but the platform also offered a direct messaging feature and numerous types of “verified” accounts, including red badges for anyone uploading a picture of their government ID. All this information, as well as granular user activity data and user IP addresses, could be exposed to the Kremlin if Parler returns with the same features while directing his data through Russian servers.
No matter where Parler lands, it looks like he’ll find a home somewhere. Decentralized internet design helps ensure connectivity, but also makes it difficult to keep people or platforms silent. Even repressive governments in countries such as Iran and China have struggled with the logistics of full control of a regional Internet.