The internet did function prior to cloud computing existing and surprise, running a rack full of NUCs can give you a lot of capacity to run a glorified message board.
Ianal, so I can’t judge the merits of this legal case. To be honest I’m surprised Parler can find lawyers willing to bring it to court on their behalf, or banks willing to process transactions to pay said lawyers.
Personally, I am surprised at the opposite. That a company cannot find lawyers to defend their position or process payments from their customers without due process is horrible.
The fact that you were not surprised by it is quite worrisome. I don’t mean that as a personal attack on you, but more as an observation of what has become acceptable or at least ordinary in a society.