Kanye West has been on a controversial social media roll! The rapper was banned from both Instagram and Twitter due to Anti-Semitic posts. He said that Black people are Jews. Ye received a heavy backlash from the Jews as well as the netizens. The ‘Donda’ rapper is back again with another controversy. This time it is a purchase of a social media website!
Kanye had a huge entrepreneurial loss. The Yeezy and Gap deal was canceled. The sneakers giant, Adidas has also put its deal with the designer ‘under review’. Amidst this, he has initiated a purchase of a far right-wing site, Parler. What is Parler? And why is the deal contentious?
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A Right-Wing Move: Kanye West Is In The Process Of Purchasing Parler
Kanye West is making another powerful business move by buying the social media site, Parler. The site made an official announcement about Kanye purchasing the site. It did not disclose the amount, but the CEO of Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies called it a “groundbreaking move”.
George Farmer, the CEO said, “This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech.” He continued, “Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”
So, now the question is, what exactly is this site? Parler was marketed as a ‘free speech-driven’ space. It was funded by the hedge-fund investor Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer. The site had many prominent members including Senator Ted Cruz and Eric Trump, the ex-President’s son. It is a Nevada-based website created by Jared Thomson and Matze.
The purpose to launch the app was that they were “exhausted with a lack of transparency in big tech, ideological suppression, and privacy abuse.” However, in 2021, the app was banned for a month from the Apple Store in the U.S.
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Why The Purchase By The Rapper Is Controversial?
The Trump supporters attacked and vandalized the US Capitol on January 21st, 2021. It was said that the attack was premeditated using social media to spread the message to gather people. The Republicans urged the conservatives to be members of Parler after Joe Biden’s victory predictions. Before the Capitol Hill riots, there were discussions of violence and carrying arms. One of the users wrote, “by all the Patriots descending on Washington DC on #jan6…come armed…”
To prevent any further harm, Parler was taken down. The company received a huge financial backlash. Amazon Web Services removed Parler from their cloud-hosting services due to a failed attempt at the moderation of violence that ensued in January 2021. Now, the site is up and running. But looking at the antics of Kanye West, it is a very concerning situation as to where the rapper will draw the line with “free speech”.
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