CNN Business
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Kanye West acquires Parler, the alternative social media platform favored by many conservatives.
Parler’s parent company announced the deal Monday morning, saying West had taken a “revolutionary step into the free speech media space and will never have to worry about being pulled from social media again.”
The acquisition comes after West, who legally changed his name to Ye, had his account temporarily locked by Twitter earlier this month over an anti-Semitic tweet.
The exact terms of Parler’s deal were not disclosed, although Parler said he has yet to reach a definitive deal with West and expects to close in the fourth quarter. Parler’s parent company Parliament Technologies would remain involved providing technical services and cloud support.
Buying Parler could make West the latest celebrity owner of a social media platform after former President Donald Trump tried to win over conservatives with the proposed acquisition of Twitter by Truth Social and the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk. It also highlights how a small group of wealthy men, some of whom have been banned or themselves suspended for inflammatory remarks, seek to own social media platforms in an effort to bolster what they call “freedom.” of expression”.
“In a world where conservative views are seen as controversial, we need to make sure we have the right to express ourselves freely,” West said in a Parler statement.
As part of the announcement, Parler linked to West’s account on the platform, which appeared to have launched simultaneously. As of Monday morning, the account had around 500 followers.
For Ye, the deal comes during a particularly contentious time. West has made headlines in recent weeks for wearing a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt in public and defending his use of the slogan — a phrase the Anti-Defamation League has linked to white supremacist groups — like “ funny” for Fox News host Tucker Carlson. After the shirt incident, apparel company Adidas announced this month that it was reviewing its partnership with West. In September, West also said he was dropping a two-year partnership with clothing retailer Gap.
Speaking on CNN on Monday, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Talk a “haven” of hate.
Parler was founded in 2018 and grew rapidly around the 2020 election. Billing itself as a loosely moderate free-speech haven, the app has become popular with conservative politicians and media personalities, peaking at around 2.9 million daily users, according to market research firm Apptopia. But since then, its fortunes have faded, with Parler’s estimated daily user count slipping to just 40,000, Apptopia told CNN on Monday. (Twitter, by comparison, has more than 237 million daily active users.)
In the weeks following the Jan. 6 riots, Parler was removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for what the companies said was a failure to adequately moderate violent rhetoric on the platform. -form. Documents provided to the House committee investigating the Capitol Riots showed how the Secret Service was aware of messages on Parler that suggested the possibility of violence surrounding that day. Separately, Parler wrote to Congress claiming lawmakers’ interest in the app’s role in the riots was aimed at “scapegoating” the app.
Speak has since been restored to both app stores after making changes to its content moderation practices.
Parler has faced more competition in recent months as the nascent ecosystem of right-wing digital media has grown. Truth Social launched in February on the Apple App Store and was approved for the Google App Store on October 13. Truth Social saw a spike in downloads last week due to its appearance on the Google Play Store, Apptopia said. to 144,000 daily active users.
Musk’s decision to buy Twitter, if the deal goes through, also has the potential to upend Parler and similar services. Musk has repeatedly called for removing permanent bans and rethinking Twitter’s approach to content moderation, which could once again make the much larger platform a home for some of the users who have jumped to. small services like Parler.
It could also effectively mean that Musk and Ye, who would be friends, are now competing against each other. After Ye’s anti-Semitic tweet sparked outcry, Musk tweeted“I spoke to you today and expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart.”
A week later, Ye’s deal to buy Parler was announced.
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