Parler has said it warned the FBI more than 50 times about violent content on its platform in the weeks leading up to the January 6 MAGA mob riot at the US Capitol, including rumors of an 'armed force' on the day of the attack.
The social media platform, a firm favorite among right-wing Americans, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in a letter Thursday it had handed over multiple posts to US authorities where users had made specific threats to the Capitol on the day Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's election win.
Parler's cooperation with the bureau began back in November, it claimed, almost two months before the deadly siege that left five including a Capitol cop dead and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives.
The letter, sent to New York Representative and chair of the House Oversight Committee Carolyn Maloney, comes as the platform is being investigated by the Committee for its part in the riot.
Parler has been blamed for failing to tackle extremist and violent content circulating on its platform after Donald Trump supporters jumped ship from other social media sites which were clamping down on misinformation and hate speech.
Several rioters had used the app to organize the siege and, in the days that followed, Apple, Amazon and Google dropped it from their services, throwing the platform offline.
Since then, Parler has made a comeback online and ousted its CEO John Matze, who is now suing the platform.
However, the reports of cooperation with the FBI raises renewed questions about whether authorities had prior intel and could have done more to prevent the events that arose on January 6.
Parler has said it referred violent content from its platform to the FBI more than 50 times in the weeks leading up to the January 6 MAGA mob riot at the US Capitol. Rioters break through a police barrier that day
The platform told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in a letter Thursday it had handed over multiple posts to US authorities where users had made specific threats to the Capitol on the day Congress were meeting to certify Joe Biden's election win
Parler said Thursday it began working with the FBI in November 'to facilitate proactive cooperation and referrals of violent threats and incitement to law enforcement.'
In the weeks between November and the deadly insurrection, the company said it notified the bureau of dozens of posts containing violent threats and illegal activities on its platform, including several related specifically to the Capitol on January 6.
'In the days and weeks leading up to Jan. 6, Parler referred violent content from its platform to the FBI for investigation over 50 times,' the company said in its letter.
'Parler even alerted law enforcement to specific threats of violence being planned at the Capitol.'
One post written on December 24 included a specific call for 'the congregation of an armed force of 150,000' people to 'react to the congressional events of January 6,' reported the Wall Street Journal.
The user spoke of 'some guys that are planning on lighting up Antifa' on January 6 and vowed to 'start eliminating people'.
That month, Parler said it also handed over three screenshots from one user who threatened to kill then-Attorney General Bill Barr and other lawmakers.
On January 2, four days before the riot, Parler said it handed a series of posts from another user describing the pro-Trump rally that day as 'a final stand' where people would 'take back the USA with force' and were 'ready to die' for their cause.
'It's no longer a protest,' the person wrote, according to Parler.
'This is a final stand where we are drawing the red line at Capitol Hill. I trust the American people will take back the USA with force and many are ready to die to take back #USA.'
Parler's cooperation with the bureau began back in November, it claimed, almost two months before the deadly siege that left five including a Capitol cop dead and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives
Parler was thrown offline after the riot as Apple, Amazon and Google dropped it from their services. Since then, it has come back online and ousted its CEO John Matze (pictured), who is now suing the platform
The individual also said he planned to show up wearing body armor that day and made a specific threat to 'take' the Capitol building.
'This is not a party until they announce #Trump2020 a winner. Don't be surprised if we take the #capital [sic] building,' they wrote.
Another example of violent content Parler said it shared with the FBI was a post from an individual boasting that people were going armed to the Capitol on January 6 and were prepared to 'cause chaos' if lawmakers did 'the wrong thing'.
'They may be concealed at first but if congress does the wrong thing expect real chaos because Trump needs us to cause chaos to enact the #insurrectionact,' the person wrote in the post.
Parler said those referrals are 'only a fraction of the dozens of posts with violent rhetoric that Parler collected and forwarded to the FBI for investigation' and said it continued to 'dutifully and proactively' report violent content to the FBI following the Capitol riot.
'Far from being the far-right instigator and rogue company that Big Tech has portrayed Parler to be, the facts conclusively demonstrate that Parler has been a responsible and law-abiding company focused on ensuring that only free and lawful speech exists on its platform,' the letter read.
The FBI did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment but the bureau has repeatedly insisted the bureau did not have intel on specific, credible threats on the Capitol on January 6 prior to the day's events but had flagged potential violence with various law enforcement agencies.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the January 6 riot. The bureau has repeatedly insisted it did not have intel on specific, credible threats on the Capitol on January 6 in advance of the attack
FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau's handling of intelligence telling NPR last week 'what we did not have, as far as I can tell, is any indication that hundreds and hundreds of people were going to breach the US Capitol.
Wray appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 2 as lawmakers and Americans continue to demand answers about how the rioters were able to carry out the attack.
Wray said the FBI sent a the bureau had sent a report on January 5 - the day before the attack - to agencies including the Capitol Police and DC's Metropolitan Police Department, detailing online chatter of a 'war' in DC the following day.
'As to why the information didn't flow to all the people within the various departments that they would prefer, I don't have a good answer for that,' he said.
His testimony came after three ex-officials who resigned in the wake of the attack - the ex-sergeants at arms of the House and Senate and the ex-US Capitol Police chief - pushed the blame onto a lack of intelligence.
Since the attacks, numerous Parler users have been charged in connection to the Capitol riots, and in some cases the Department of Justice has referred to the threats suspects made on the app in charging documents.
The app grew in popularity among the far right in the wake of the presidential election as the likes of Twitter and Facebook clamped down on spreading misinformation and hate speech as Donald Trump pushed false claims that he had won the White House race.
The letter about the right-wing platform's collaboration with US authorities came the same day the bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google were hauled before a different House panel about the roles their platforms play in the spread of disinformation. Mark Zuckerberg
Also testifying Thursday, the head of Google's parent company Alphabet Sundar Pichai (left) and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (right)
After Trump was banished from the mainstream apps for spreading false claims, millions of users flocked to Parler.
But Parler went offline in January as it was removed from Apple and Google app stores and taken off a web-hosting platform by Amazon as the companies accused the platform of failing to crack down on extremist content and calls for violence in the lead-up to the January 6 riot.
In late January, a judge ruled against Parler's request to force Amazon to restore the company to its web hosting services.
A month later, Parler re-launched its services online through host SkySilk as it said its new platform was built on 'sustainable, independent technology.'
New community guidelines on Parler state that the platform is 'viewpoint neutral' and will not allow for promotion of crime or unlawful acts.
The company's board of directors also unceremoniously fired its cofounder and CEO Matze in January with Mark Meckler, an attorney, political activist, and founder of the Tea Party Patriots, now serving as interim CEO.
Matze, 27, is now suing Parler for $3million claiming punitive and compensatory damages claiming his 40 percent stake in the company was stolen from him when he was ousted and accusing its leadership of bullying him.
Parler said some posts handed over to the FBI included threats to kill then-AG Bill Barr and other lawmakers
On January 2, Parler said it handed over posts from one user describing the pro-Trump rally as 'a final stand' where people were 'ready to die' for their cause. Four days later, the mob stormed the Capitol leaving five dead
He claims he was punished for trying to ban QAnon conspiracy theories and crack down on white supremacists and neo-Nazis using the app.
The letter about the right-wing platform's collaboration with US authorities came the same day the bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google were hauled before a different House panel about the roles their platforms play in the spread of disinformation.
Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied the platform played some role in the January 6 riot testifying that he believed the blame rested on Trump and those who broke into the building.
'I believe that the former president should be responsible for his words and that the people who broke the law should be responsible for their actions. So that leaves the question of the broader information ecosystem,' Zuckerberg said.
Alphabet's Sundar Pichai said he felt 'a deep sense of responsibility, but I think we worked hard this election, the effort was one of our most substantive efforts' while Twitter's Jack Dorsey admitted yes but that 'you also have to take into consideration the broader ecosystem.'
Post a Comment