Parler CEO John Matze Releases Statement On Platform’s Moderation Efforts, Misconceptions on Policies

HENDERSON, NV – Through its office of Public Affairs, Parler’s Chief Executive Officer, John Matze, has released the following statement regarding the incitement of violence on his platform.

“In an interview this week, some believe I gave the impression that I somehow did not care whether Parler is used to incite violence. I want to set the record straight: That interpretation could not be further from the truth.

“I founded Parler to be a place of open dialogue and discussion where we could work to move past the anger and hostility that seems to be consuming our otherwise civil society. Parler strives to bring people together and find common ground, peace and healing. We do not condone or accept violence on our platform and we never will.

“Our team worked hard to produce a strong set of Community Guidelines, which expressly forbids content which incites or threatens violence, or other activity which breaks the law. We’ve worked even harder to construct a system which engages our community to quickly and transparently enforce these rules and remove prohibited content.

“It hasn’t been easy. Parler does not engage in viewpoint discrimination, nor do we harvest and abuse personal data. Parler is not a surveillance app, so we can’t just write a few algorithms that will quickly locate 100% of objectionable content, especially during periods of rapid growth and the seemingly coordinated malicious attacks that accompany that growth. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been effective. Up until Friday afternoon, it seemed that Apple, Amazon, and Google agreed.

“Evaluated objectively, our system worked as well or better than the methods used by our competitors, while adhering to our principles. And we are working to improve it every day. We invite those with concerns to join our community and see our system in action. And we welcome your feedback.

“It is important to all of us at Parler that we get it right. We care deeply and are committed to being part of the long-term solution to save civil discourse.”

The statement was released on January 10, 2021, at 9:06 PM Eastern Time, just hours before the platform is expected to be brought off line due to a cancellation of service by its web hosting company, Amazon AWS. Both Apple and Google have already removed the app from their app stores.

According to both CNN and the BBC, Amazon’s AWS Trust and Safety team told Parler’s Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff that the social network “does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service”. It is expected to go dark shortly before midnight on Sunday Pacific Standard Time.