Parler's new owner immediately took the social network offline:
Months after Ye dropped his bid, Parler has a new owner... and is out of commission for the time being. Starboard, the owner of pro-conservative news outlets like American Wire News, has shut down Parler on a temporary but indefinite basis after completing its acquisition of the social network from Parlement Technologies. The buyer says it will conduct a "strategic assessment" of the platform during the downtime, and hopes to integrate Parler's audience into all its existing channels.
Starboard isn't shy about its strategy. While it still sees a market for communities that believe they've been censored or marginalized, it considers a Parler revamp virtually necessary. "No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more," the company says.
Parler launched in 2018 as a self-proclaimed free speech alternative to Twitter, which some conservatives claim is biased against right-wing views. It had few rules or moderation controls. Like Gab, though, it also became a haven for people with extreme views. Parler drew flak in January 2021 after word that people involved in the Capitol attack used the social platform to coordinate. Apple and Google kicked Parler off their respective app stores until it improved moderation and kept out users inciting violence.
[...] In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Starboard chief Ryan Coyne says he expects to keep users on Parler despite rivalries with other sites, such as former President Trump's Truth Social. However, the absence of a revival date doesn't leave members many options. For now, they'll have to use other platforms to express themselves.
Previously: Parler Has Reportedly Cut 'Majority' of Staff in Recent Weeks
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The layoffs seem to have begun just after Ye's acquisition was called off:
Parler parent company Parlement Technologies has cut the "majority" of its staff in recent weeks, according to a new report. The Verge reports that the company has slashed close to 75 percent of staff, including several executives, in recent weeks with "approximately 20" workers remaining between both entities at the end of 2022.
Parler didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the layoffs or how many staffers remain. The layoffs seem to roughly coincide with other difficulties for the "free speech" social media app. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, had struck a deal to buy the service for an undisclosed amount in October. In December, Parlement Technologies announced the deal was off, with a Parler rep claiming the decision had been made in mid-November due to Ye's "ongoing business difficulties." Layoffs began shortly after, at the end of November, The Verge now reports.
Parler was originally launched in 2018, but rose to prominence in 2020 as several high profile Republicans announced they were leaving Twitter in favor of Parler. The app billed itself as a "free speech" social network that eschewed the "censorship" of mainstream social media platforms like Twitter. It gained popularity as a free-wheeling alternative that had few rules or moderation policies.
This seems to be following the path that has already been taken by Twitter, Meta and other social media sites. Is it a temporary phenomenon or a sign of changing attitudes?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19, @04:38AM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Wednesday April 19, @04:27PM
Unfortunately we were not able to destroy every other social media site as well. So the plague continues.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Wednesday April 19, @06:44AM (7 children)
Echo chambers are dangerous places. Bad ideas are repeated until they become good ideas.
(Score: 3, Informative) by digitalaudiorock on Wednesday April 19, @12:20PM (2 children)
...and more importantly, lies get repeated until they become "facts".
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Wednesday April 19, @03:10PM (1 child)
and the bigger the lie...
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”
And now, Fox settles out of court in order to keep it's followers shielded from the truth...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Wednesday April 19, @06:16PM
What's troubling is almost a quarter of our population, those who believe that Adolph Trump can do no wrong, seem to be fine with authoritarianism, and nothing in the constitution says we can deport them to, oh, say, North Korea where they should feel right at home.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19, @02:58PM (3 children)
Yeah, but that's what humans do. We do things we like - who the hell wants to watch Fox Bullshit just to listen to the other side. Nobody - it's bright light flash bang propaganda - and I can't be fucking bothered plowing through industrialized disinformation just for the pleasure of making clever points to grandma next time I see her.
No, democracy - or whatever succeeds it - has to survive this assault. Democracy in fact has succeeded the last centurys' plague of ideologues, and the Kings that went before. So bring it on. Personally I think people will eventually come round to my position - sick and tired of circuses and bullshitters - literally can't be bothered with yammer yammer 3D chess yammer yammer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Wednesday April 19, @03:18PM (2 children)
Yeah: to try to suss out the truth, i read various different news (and 'news') sites (even Fox news, thus the 'news' bit: like reading Dr. Seuss). Forget the 'circus' and try to get what is real.
It. is. hard.
People who only watch one site, like Fox, are doing themselves harm.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Informative) by mcgrew on Wednesday April 19, @06:23PM (1 child)
The trouble with the news media, whether CNN or Faux, is that they are owned by the very rich, who aren't about to let you know that fifty years ago only single parents needed child care, because a single paycheck paid the bills, that tying the minimum wage to inflation like Social Security after it rises to 1965's buying power would stop the negative effects of inflation.
Nor will they tell you who will pay for it, they won't tell you that nobody earning less than four times the median income paid federal tax in 1940.
The rich have been stealing labor for half a century, and since they own the media...
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday April 20, @06:29PM
I largely agree with you but many of those statements are your opinions and not news.
Maybe because it appears to not be true?
The median income for a man in 1940 was $956. [npr.org]
Revenue act of 1940: An exemption of $800 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples and heads of family was allowed, as was a $400 exemption for each dependent under 18. [wikipedia.org]
I don't think we should replace one set of opinions with another.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Thursday April 20, @03:20AM
I'll believe Parler is about free speech as soon as they allow Bernie Sanders and AOC to have accounts.