Kanye West has agreed to buy social media platform Parler
Kanye West has agreed to buy social media platform Parler
The rapper was recently banned on Twitter and Instagram for sharing antisemitic posts
➡ The Shortcut Skinny: Kanye West buys Parler
🎤 Ye, AKA Kanye West, is set to buy the conservative-orientated social media platform, Parler
🗣 Parler prides itself on providing “free speech” and claims it's an “uncancelable” space
🦅 The social media platform is similar to Donald Trump’s Twitter alternative Truth Social
💰 The deal for Parler should close by the end of the year
Rapper, genius, and the voice of a generation Kanye West, who now goes by the name Ye, is set to buy Parler — a social media platform that prides itself on free speech.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, though it’s unclear exactly how much Kanye West paid for the platform.
In a statement regarding the Parler deal, rapper Ye 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.”
Kanye West was recently banned from Twitter and Instagram for sharing antisemitic posts and seems to be taking a similar approach to Donald Trump, who launched his own alternative to Twitter called Truth Social in February.
Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer claims Kanye’s Parler deal will “change the world” and said that the artist responsible for hits such as Gold Digger and Through The Wire is “one step ahead of the legacy media narrative”.
“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. 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.”
According to Twitter user Jay McKenzie, Parler currently gets around 1.3 million monthly visits, which is seven times less than the nine million monthly visitors Truth Social attracts. Parler also lags behind Gab, which is another self-styled free-speech platform.
Compared to Twitter, Parler’s userbase is practically non-existent, as the soon-to-be Elon Musk-owned platform averages around seven billion monthly visitors. Musk recently revived his ownership bid after previously trying to back out of the deal $44bn deal.
Parler is available to download on the App Store and Google Play Store. The platform is unlikely to see a dramatic change in fortune, even though Kanye West may be hoping to attract a small portion of his 31.4 million Twitter followers and 18.2 million Instagram followers to Parler.