Kanye West agrees to buy conservative social media platform Parler

[Green Man]

Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, agrees to buy conservative social media platform Parler, company says


PUBLISHED MON, OCT 17 20226:02 AM EDTUPDATED MON, OCT 17 20228:20 PM EDT

Ryan Browne

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/17/kany...pany-says.html

• Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, agreed to buy Parler, a conservative social media app, after other platforms suspended him over antisemitic posts.
• “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Ye said in a release.
• Later, Ye told Bloomberg News that he’s buying Parler because Instagram and Twitter disciplined him.
• Parler is one of several right-wing-friendly social media platforms to emerge in the Donald Trump era.
• 
  

Kanye West, the superstar rapper who has made several inflammatory and antisemitic comments in recent weeks, has agreed in principle to buy conservative social media platform Parler, the app’s parent company said in a statement Monday.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said West, who now goes by Ye, in a statement released by Parler.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t announced. The company previously said it had raised $56 million in funding from outside investors.


The move comes after Ye was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts for making antisemitic remarks. In one post, Ye played into a long-standing antisemitic conspiracy theory that fellow rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs is being controlled by Jewish people. On Twitter, meanwhile, Ye’s account was restricted after he said he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”

A representative for Ye didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Ye told Bloomberg News that he was motivated to buy Parler after Instagram and Twitter penalized him. He also declined to reveal the terms of the deal to the outlet.

Ye’s net worth is reportedly $2 billion. Much of his fortune comes from his Yeezy sneakers brand and partnerships with Gap and Adidas. However, Ye severed business ties with Gap recently, and Adidas said it’s also reviewing its business relationship with him. JPMorgan Chase also cut ties with the rapper.

Parler is one of several right-wing-friendly platforms to emerge during the Donald Trump era, as the former president’s supporters claim unfair treatment by Twitter and other apps. There’s also Gettr, which is run by former Trump advisor Jason Miller, and Trump’s own app, Truth Social, whose parent company is under federal investigation as it seeks to go public. Conservative-friendly video platform Rumble went public last month.

Parler, which initially launched in 2018, was swept up in controversy last year over the role it played in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol building. That led a slew of tech companies, including Google and Amazon, to blacklist the service, rendering its app and website inaccessible.

In September, however, Google reinstated the app on its Play Store, stating the company changed some of its content moderation policies and enforcement. Apple restored the app on its App Store platform earlier, in April 2021.

Parler has sought to reduce its dependence on technologies from other firms by establishing its own cloud infrastructure in-house. The company set up a new parent company in September, called Parlement Technologies, aimed at providing its own cloud service for online business. “The future is uncancelable,” the company said at the time.

Ye and Parler’s parent company expect to finalize the deal before the end of the year, the company said. The terms of the deal include technical support for Parler from its parent company, as well as the use of its private cloud services.

After Ye’s suspension from Instagram, the rapper turned to Twitter, posting for the first time since 2020. “Look at this Mark How you gone kick me off instagram,” he wrote, referring to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram parent Meta.

Elon Musk, a friend of Ye’s, responded saying, “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!”

Ye was then locked out of his Twitter account for a violation of its policies, after which Musk tweeted he had talked to Ye and “expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart.”

Musk is currently pursuing an acquisition of Twitter. That takeover was revived last week after the Tesla CEO said he would buy the social media platform at the $54.20 a share price they initially agreed on in April. The billionaire, who calls himself a “free speech absolutist,” has said he wants to make Twitter a “digital town square” that promotes free expression.

Commenting on the agreement Monday, Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said it “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,” Farmer said in a statement. “Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.”

Farmer is married to American conservative activist Candace Owens, one of Ye’s advocates on social media. He is also the son of Michael Farmer, a British Conservative politician who sits in the upper chamber of the U.K. Parliament.

George Farmer was named CEO of the conservative-leaning social app in May of last year, after a dispute between its early investor Rebekah Mercer and ex-Parler chief John Matze led to Matze’s ousting. Mercer, the heiress daughter of hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, is Parler’s controlling shareholder.

[Green Man]

Parler was jubilant about Kanye West buying it. Then the problems started.

An email to so-called VIPs for the site raised a couple questions; among them: Do the VIPs know that they’re VIPs?


By MERIDITH MCGRAW, JORDAIN CARNEY and REBECCA KERN
10/20/2022 10:45 AM EDT

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/1...arted-00062716

On the afternoon that Parler, a social media platform popular with conservatives, announced its acquisition by Ye, better known as Kanye West, the site emailed hundreds of VIP members to excitedly share the news.
There were just two problems.

Parler neglected to blind-CC email addresses and inadvertently revealed the contact information of at least 10 lawmakers and many more conservative stars. The other problem: some of those “VIPs” had no clue why they were being labeled as such, confessing that they had little to no association with the controversial app, let alone special status there.

“Chairwoman [Kelli] Ward isn’t active on Parler and hasn’t opened the app in well over 2 years,” said Kristy Dohnel, a spokesperson for the Arizona Republican Party. “We have zero idea what you are talking about.”

The episode and subsequent confusion — a company spokesperson declined to address questions about who compiled the list and the criteria behind it — has created a headache for Parler during what should have been a celebratory time. Since its 2018 inception, the site has tried to position itself as a champion of free speech, recruiting Donald Trump acolytes and conservative luminaries with a promise to be the quintessential social media counterweight to the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

But the inadvertent email raises questions about how big Parler’s influence actually is as Ye prepares to buy it, given that the VIP list included generic media addresses and some that were old or defunct. It also offers a window into the oft-times chaotic nature of the conservative media ecosystem, where a variety of different platforms are competing for audience share and industry dominance by catering to a narrow group of influential conservative figures and relaxing editorial guardrails.

Parler’s platform has become a haven for far-right posters and anti-Semitic content. In early 2021, it was banned from Apple and Google stores after the Jan. 6 riots on Capitol Hill, and in order to return, the app made changes to its content moderation.

But it has struggled to build an audience. According to Similarweb, an analytics company specializing in web traffic and performance, Parler’s ranking compared to other platforms popular with conservatives has been decreasing over time. It saw just over 1.2 million visits in September, compared to GETTR, with over 7.1 million visits, Trump’s own Truth Social, with over 8.9 million visits, and another conservative site, Gab, with over 12.8 million visits.

A Parler spokesperson said the site had about 16 million registered users prior to Ye’s purchase announcement. But according to data analytics firm Apptopia, it has just 40,000 daily active users. That pales in comparison to Twitter’s 237 million daily active users, according to the company’s latest earnings report.

Eric Wilson, a managing partner of Startup Caucus, a Republican campaign technology investment fund, said the problem facing Parler was not unique to that platform. Sites built around political communities generally have a hard time building the so-called “network effect” that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have constructed. That’s because the vast majority of social media users don’t go on the platforms to talk about politics. “And so these concentrated networks of people who want to talk about politics are essentially creating a choir room,” Wilson said.

“This idea of a conservative-only political social media network is not going to take off,” he added. “And I wish these entrepreneurs and investors would put their money into more effective projects.”

Part of what’s contributed to its audience’s shared woes is that Parler has lacked the star power and user base that Trump and his family bring to platforms. Trump has not joined Parler, although Ye is in talks with the former president about doing so.

Absent Trump, there is hope that Ye himself could play the star power role. An account for the rapper — who is currently engulfed in his own scandal for a series of anti-Semitic remarks that resulted in his suspension from Twitter and Instagram — appeared on Parler on Monday. By Thursday, he had over 29,000 users following him. It was a tiny fraction of his 31 million Twitter followers. He sent his first “parley” on Wednesday afternoon, quoting a Bible verse saying, “Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” He later posted a video of a “2024” hat, hinting at a potential presidential run.

A person familiar with Parler’s business said the company had been seeking a buyer since it announced it had acquired cloud service provider Dynascale, and that it was creating a new parent company, Parlement Technologies, Inc., and placing its focus on cloud technology.

“As a gold-badged account, you’ll still communicate with the same Outreach team. Our VIPs are an invaluable part of the Parler family and experience,” the email, signed by three members of Parler’s “Outreach Team” read. “We appreciate all your support and partnership in the fight for free speech, and we look forward to your involvement in this monumental new chapter.”

But the outreach team forgot to hide the recipient list; or, at least, a complete version of it (the email obtained by POLITICO was alphabetized and only included recipients up to the letter J). By the end of the day on Monday, the email had been forwarded within conservative circles. The Daily Caller also reported on the VIP list.

Many of the names included in the email do have operational Parler accounts, including Kirk and Trump superfans Diamond and Silk. Others appear to have joined the site for research or muckraking purposes, including MSNBC’s Ali Velshi.

Told that they were Parler VIPs, several people on the email recipient list expressed surprise.

“I worked with and was approached by Parler prior to my 2020 election. I was given a badge as I worked in media and they wanted to confirm my account was the official [account] to avoid impersonation accounts,” said Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican congressional candidate in Florida. “I am unfamiliar with the email you have but I haven’t spoken to anyone at the org in a few years as I prefer instagram as a primary means of communication and did not like the interface of Parler.”

One of the Republicans whose email was on the list said a representative for Parler approached them at an event, urging them to use the platform more and informing them that they had VIP status with them. “The next thing I know I get an email saying, ‘Oops, so sorry. we sent your email to everybody on our list,’” the person said.

It was just one of the many PR issues faced by Parler following the company’s announcement of the acquisition by Ye. On Tuesday, its CEO George Farmer declined repeated efforts by Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney to say whether the platform would or would not allow Ye to make anti-Semitic comments on the platform, saying Ye would ultimately be the “controller” when the deal is complete.

Farmer told the Wall Street Journal the conversation with Ye to buy the platform began over Paris Fashion Week when his wife, conservative commentator and influencer Candace Owens, appeared with the rapper wearing controversial “White Lives Matter” T-shirts. The Anti-Defamation League has called that tagline a “white supremacist phrase” that was created as a “racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement.”

“Ye is not only a music & apparel titan but he, like Parler, has faced senseless and unnecessary censorship and cancellation by Big Tech. He shares Parler’s passion for free speech and independent thought,” Farmer said in a statement to users on Monday. “Parler will remain a place where everyone can think, listen, and speak freely. We will continue the fight against censorship, cancel culture, and authoritarianism.”

[dmatic]

"confessing that they had little to no association with the controversial app," Is twitter controversial? Yes. Is facebook controversial? Yes. Is Meta controversial? Of course. Are liberals controversial...Yes. Are Conservatives>? Of course. Are "Jews" controversial? Is "Ye" controversial? Is the U.S.? Is Russia? Is NATO? Everything is controversial.....what, pray tell, is not? And what's the answer to find peace in a troubled world? More war? More arguments about perspectives and genealogies? We have lots to learn.

[Green Man]

Kanye West ends plans to buy right-wing social network Parler: report

Matthew ChapmanDecember 01, 2022

https://www.rawstory.com/kanye-parler/

Winner for Album Of The Year, Beck (in background), reacts as Kanye West leaves the stage during the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles, February 8, 2015 (AFP)
On Thursday, Axios reported that right-wing social network Parler announced it would no longer be acquired by rapper Kanye "Ye" West.

"Parler announced Thursday it reached a mutual agreement with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to terminate the sale of the social media app," reported Dan Primack and Sara Fischer. "The deal already was on life support, as Axios previously reported, and it's unclear if a formal merger agreement was ever signed. Parler originally said it had an agreement 'in principle,' and today referred to it as 'intent of sale.'"

"In a statement, Parler's parent company said: 'This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,'" said the report. "A source familiar with the situation said that Ye's precarious financial situation — including the loss of his Adidas deal — played a role in the deal collapse."

Parler, which initially saw a surge in user interest when it launched as an alternative to Twitter for conservatives who believe that website is "censoring" them, has been struggling financially. The network is best known for spreading a font of disinformation during the January 6 attack.

Actual studies have shown that Twitter was never actually censoring conservatives.

Ye, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump who has been toying with the idea of a run for president in 2024, has caused a firestorm of criticism with his increasingly anti-Semitic statements, including pushing the "Black Hebrew Israelite" conspiracy theory stating the original tribes of Israel were Black Africans and modern Jews are imposters. This week, he escalated things further with an appearance on the extremist InfoWars show, where he professed admiration for Adolf Hitler.