Kanye West is buying the rightwing social media platform Parler. The sum of the deal has not yet been announced or disclosed.
Parler is popular among conservatives and the far-right in the U.S. Parler launched in 2018 claiming to be a free-speech space for people seeking alternatives to platforms like Twitter.
It was billed as a “free speech” social network because it did not include any content moderation originally, meaning it allowed groups and remarks from neo-Nazis and far-right extremists and did nothing to take down hate speech and violence.
West was recently blocked from posting on both Twitter and Instagram after he sent a series of antisemitic outbursts. After that, West moved to acquire Parler.
The controversial network was taken offline after the Jan. 6 riot. The app was cut off by major service providers amid accusations that it failed to police violent content related to the deadly attack.
A month or so later, the app was re-launched, including content moderation. Despite being the “free speech” social network, the site was forced to add content moderation to be restored to the Apple App Store in May 2021 and did not return to Android devices until just last month in September 2022.
Its parent company Parliament Technologies said that it expects the deal to close during the fourth quarter of 2022.
West, a rapper who now goes by Ye, is close with the chief executive of Parliament Technologies, George Farmer, as well as his wife, right-wing commentator Candace Owens.
West and Owens were recently photographed wearing ‘white lives matter’ shirts together during Paris fashion week. After that, West sat down with Fox News host Tucker Carlson for an interview, in which he accused Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner of having worked with the Israeli government for personal profit.
On Instagram, West accused rapper Puff Daddy of being controlled by “Jewish people.” His account was suspended, and then he turned back to Twitter.
On Twitter, West posted that he would be going “death [sic] con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Twitter removed the post and locked his account.
Parler is one of a handful of similar conservative platforms, including former president Donald Trump’s Truth Social.
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