John Matze in a memo sent to staffers, reportedly announced that he has been fired without consultations by the social network company's board.
"On January 29, 2021, the Parler board controlled by Rebekah Mercer decided to immediately terminate my position as CEO of Parler. I did not participate in this decision," Matze wrote. "I understand that those who now control the company have made some communications to employees and other third parties that have unfortunately created confusion and prompted me to make this public statement."
Matze also claimed that: "Over the past few months, I’ve met constant resistance to my product vision, my strong belief in free speech and my view of how the Parler site should be managed. For example, I advocated for more product stability and what I believe is a more effective approach to content moderation."
However in a video message, Parler investor and Radio host Dan Bongino said that Matze's claims are misleading and self-serving.
Apparently, Matze 27, -- who co-founded the site in 2017 -- wanted to impose more restrictive moderation but was rebuffed by the company's main financial billionaire backer Rebekah Mercer.
Bongino said that he and the other co-owners were the ones who prioritized free speech in their vision. Bongino said he -- and not Matze -- warned and advocated for more product stability.
Following the January 6 protest at the US Capitol last month, the free speech social network's app was removed from Apple’s and Google’s app stores and booted from Amazon’s web-hosting platform for not being strict enough in censoring 'hate speech.'
According to Matze, Parler is currently run by an "executive committee" consisting of Matthew Richardson and Mark Meckler.
Matze had promised that the social network would be back online by the end of January. But that has not materialized.
Following the de-platforming of President Trump by big tech companies, Millions have been flocking to Gab, a more reliable free speech social network favored by many Trump supporters and free speech advocates worldwide.