The social media platform Parler is currently inaccessible after Apple, Google, and Amazon suspended its services following the violent events at the U.S. Capitol last week, which resulted in five fatalities.

Despite the platform’s temporary shutdown, the numerous posts previously shared on the site remain accessible.

An individual hacker successfully archived millions of posts, videos, and images from the platform between the time of the riot and its eventual offline status on Monday, creating a substantial collection of potential evidence for law enforcement officials investigating the attempted insurrection, allegedly planned and coordinated by individuals using the platform.

The hacker, known online as @donk_enby, and also an internet archivist, obtained the data from the social network and uploaded it to the Internet Archive, a repository for archived versions of web pages.

According to a statement on Twitter, @donk_enby collected data from Parler encompassing both deleted and private posts, along with videos that included “all associated metadata.”

https://twitter.com/donk_enby/status/1348294151712944128

Metadata comprises details about a file, such as its creation date and the device used. This information is typically embedded within the file itself. The videos recovered from Parler also appear to contain precise location data indicating where each video was recorded. This metadata could prove invaluable to authorities investigating the Capitol riot, potentially linking individuals to their Parler accounts or assisting police in identifying rioters based on their location information.

While most online services typically remove metadata upon file uploads, Parler apparently did not implement this practice.

Parler rapidly gained popularity as a social network alternative after President Trump was removed from Twitter and Facebook due to his role in inciting the January 6th riot. However, major technology companies cited Parler’s lack of a content moderation policy as a violation of their standards – a factor that initially attracted many users to the platform.

Numerous posts on the platform contained calls to “burn down [Washington] D.C.,” alongside other expressions advocating violence and the execution of Vice President Mike Pence.

Several individuals involved in the Capitol breach have already been arrested and charged. The fact that many rioters were not wearing masks, despite the ongoing pandemic, has aided in their identification. However, due to a security oversight by Parler, even more individuals may soon be facing legal consequences.