January 11, 2021, 3:11 pm
According to a report by Gizmodo, a team of benevolent hackers managed to archive every single post on the right-wing Twitter alternative Parler as well as a ton of metadata before the site went down following its removal from multiple app stores and, finally, Amazon Web Services.
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This includes location data and other information that could help authorities connect violent language and threats to those who took part in the assault on the Capitol last week.
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The effort was led by one individual, who has insisted that outlets refer to her by her Twitter handle @donk_enby (nice), who embarked on a sleepless mission to capture as much data from Parler as she could before it disappeared entirely.
Some of the metadata shared by @donk_enby includes the exact GPS position of the device used to post to Parler at the time the post was published.
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It’s currently uncertain whether Parler will ever come back online after being removed from both Apple and Android app stores and then losing its support from Amazon Web Services, which hosted the social media platform. AWS announced its ditching of Parler on Saturday, citing the increasing number of posts that appeared to encourage political violence and the lack of moderation.
“Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms,” they said in an email to Parler. “It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.”
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After this news was announced, @donk_enby resolved to archive as much data as she could while there was still time. She described herself to Gizmodo as a hacker and expressed a desire to shift the idea of what hacking can and should be used for.
“I want this to be a big middle finger to those who say hacking shouldn’t be political,” she said. The hacker plans to hand the data over to researchers who can use it as they see fit.
She also denied the circulating rumors that the information she captured included photos of the front and back of user driver’s licenses, telling the Daily Dot that the only data she archived was publicly available on Parler before it went down.
Parler’s former users have caught wind of @donk_enby’s efforts and they are not happy about it.
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It will be difficult if not impossible for Parler to recover from being kicked from their web host, especially if other servers are reluctant to embrace the platform, but as of Saturday investor Dan Bongino had advised users that the platform was “not done.” This was captured in a screenshot of a Parler post that included a comment demonstrating exactly why the platform is being banned everywhere.
“It would be a pity if someone with explosives training were to pay a visit to some AWS Data Centers – the location of which are public knowledge,” said the commenter.
*First Published: January 11, 2021, 3:11 pm
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