The controversial rapper, Kanye West, who goes by the name “Ye”, is no longer buying the free speech social media platform Parler. as a reminder, he struck a deal with Parlement Technologies in mid-October to buy the platform. West made the deal to buy Parler after Twitter and Instagram suspended his account over his antisemitic comments.
A person close to the deal said that it was clear a long time ago that Ye was not in a strong enough financial position to complete the deal ever since popular brands like Adidas and Gap ended their partnerships with Ye over his controversial posts.
“Parlement Technologies has confirmed that the company has mutually agreed with Kanye West to terminate the intent of sale of Parler,” a Parler spokeswoman said in a statement. She added that Parler would “continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.”
The news of this deal imploding came hours after Ye was praising the Nazis on Alex Jones’s podcast. “Every human being has a value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” he said. Hours later, Twitter once again suspended his account after he posted an image of a swastika inside the Star of David.
What is Parler?
Parler describes itself as “non-biased, free speech social media focused on protecting user’s rights.” In the founders’ opinions, big tech companies have an anti-conservative bias and censor those views.
In the summer of 2020, tech companies such as Twitter and Facebook stepped up their efforts to contain the spread of misinformation leading to the presidential elections. As a result, many prominent conservatives claimed their voices were censored.
Therefore, Right-wing personalities looking to practice free speech — meaning, publish without fact-checks — but wanting to avoid far-right platforms known for racism, like Gab, found a home at Parler.
Parler has had about 10.8 million installs from across the App Store and Google Play, 8.7 million of those from the United States, according to Sensor Tower data. In January, it said it has over 12 million registered users.