Kanye West to Buy Parler Social Network

pcmag.com:

Kanye West has agreed to buy alt-right social network Parler.

There is no word on how much the rapper, who now goes by Ye, will pay for ownership of the app; parent company Parlement Technologies expects to close the deal(Opens in a new window) before the end of 2022.

The move comes about a week after West had his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted for repeated policy violations, including sharing anti-Semitic content. He then doubled-down on those anti-Semitic viewpoints during a recent podcast appearance(Opens in a new window).

Parler, meanwhile, is billed as a Twitter alternative that doesn't censor its users, but it's often associated with Donald Trump supporters, conservatives, conspiracy theorists, and far-right extremists. Forced offline after the Jan. 6 US Capitol riot, the app and website partially returned less than two weeks later, powered by Russian-owned DDos-Guard.

Efforts to rebuild were led by CEO John Matze, who was fired on Jan. 29, 2021, and replaced by interim chief Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and president of Citizens for Self-Governance. By mid-February, Parler was back up and running—initially available only to existing followers, before opening to "Americans of all viewpoints" soon after.

There's no telling what West will bring to the Parler table, or how involved he'll be in the daily goings-on of the company.

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