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Parler website is back online in limited form after Amazon cut hosting ties

The app, which is more popular with Parler's users than the website, remains banned from the Google and Apple app stores, and the site is little more than a page with four messages.

Sareena Dayaram Senior Editor
Sareena is a senior editor for CNET covering the mobile beat including device reviews. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with more than a decade's worth of experience producing stories for television and digital publications across Asia's financial capitals including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. Prior to CNET, Sareena worked at CNN as a news writer and Reuters as a producer.
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Parler is back online.

Screenshot by Sareena Dayaram/CNET

After Amazon , Google , and Apple forced Parler offline in the wake of the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, the social networking company managed to make an online comeback on Sunday.

Parler, which is popular with supporters of President Donald Trump, has not regained full operability and is little more than four messages on a page, but the company's CEO, John Matze, is reportedly "confident" it will reappear in its entirety by the end of January. 

"Our return is inevitable due to hard work, and persistence against all odds," reads a post by Matze on the Parler website. "Despite the threats and harassment not one Parler employee has quit. We are becoming closer and stronger as a team."

The social networking site went dark when Amazon stopped providing it cloud hosting services after it was revealed the platform was used to help organize the Capitol Hill attack on Jan. 6, which left five people dead. Amazon's actions followed moves by Apple and Google to ban the Parler mobile app from their respective stores. The Parler app, which is more popular with its user base, remains unavailable. 

Read more: Apple's Tim Cook says Parler must tighten up moderation to get back on the app store

The Parler social media app on Apple's App Store

The Parler social media app on Apple's App Store is no longer available.

Stephen Shankland/CNET

Questions have been raised over how Parler returned online following its ejection from the internet. The Parler domain is registered with Epik, according to domain name database Whois. But an Epik statement published Monday, denies the company had any "contact or discussions with Parler in any form regarding our becoming their registrar or hosting provider."

A Reuters report, citing an infrastructure expert, pointed to a Russian tech firm as supporting Parler's return online. It said that the IP address Epik used is owned by DDos-Guard, which is "controlled by two Russian men and provides services including protection from distributed denial of service attacks." The company that owns DDos-Guard is called Cognitive Cloud LP, according to the report. 

Read more: Parler vows to return after Amazon pulls hosting amid concerns over violent protests

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A WHOIS search of Parler's website shows it was registered with Epik.

Screenshot by Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Parler CEO John Matze didn't immediately respond to a CNET request for comment.