Kanye West to buy 'free speech' social media platform Parler.

Kanye West has proposed to buy Parler, the social media app popular amongst conservatives in the US, parent company Parlement Technologies announced.

Parler is a Nashville-based app which has so far raised approximately $56 million. It said it expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2022 but did not give an estimate of the deal’s value. Parler launched in 2018 and has marketed itself as a “free-speech” space for those who seek an alternative platform from the more popular Twitter. It was removed from Google and Apple’s app stores after the US Capitol Riots on 6 January 2021, but has since been reinstated.

From its Twitter account @parler_app, it tweeted: “Parlement Technologies is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement in principle for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire the Parler platform.  The acquisition ensures Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.”

Parler CEO George Farmer said, “This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”

The move comes after West has been locked out of Twitter for antisemitic posts. He has recently faced criticism for making antisemitic comments, espousing conspiriacy theories, making false accusations around the police killing of George Floyd and wearing a White Lives Matter shirt at a fashion show earlier this month. White Lives Matter is a popular phrase amongst white-supremacist groups. He has been removed from Twitter a number of times, hence his acquisition of Parler seen as a “stand against Big Tech.” He has also been removed from Instagram. 

He has recently terminated his partnership with clothing retailer Gap, and sports fashion company Adidas has put its business partnership with the rapper under review. In a statement, West said “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.” He has not apologised for any of his racist or antisemitic remarks in the past few weeks.

Parler is reportedly an attractive social forum for alt-right groups, conservatives and Donald Trump supporters. According to The Guardian, Parler CEO George Famrer is married to rightwing activist Candace Owens and is the son of former Conservative party treasurer and peer Michael Farmer. Parler was originally founded in 2018 by John Matze and Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of the billionaire hedge fund manager and Breitbart co-owner Robert Mercer. Due to the fact that many who participated in the Capitol Hill riots used the site, Matze was ousted and replaced by Farmer in May 2021. The site was forced to add content moderation in order to be restored to the Apple App store, which it did in May 2021, but did not return to Android devices until September 2022. 

According to a press release, Parler Technologies will continue to operate as an independent company, providing “technical support and the use of private cloud services” to the Parler site.

(Sources: NBC News, The Guardian)