Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on February 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, California.
Evan Agostini | Invision | AP
In a statement Monday, the app’s parent company said Kanye West, a superstar rapper who has made several inflammatory and anti-Semitic comments in recent weeks, has agreed in principle to buy conservative social media platform Parler.
“In a world where conservative views are controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to express ourselves freely,” West, who now goes to Yi, said in a statement released by Parler.
This move comes after Ye was locked out of his position Twitter and Instagram accounts for making anti-Semitic remarks. In one post, Yi played a role in a long-running anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that rapper Sean “Diddy Combs” is under the control of the Jewish people.
Yi is said to have a net worth of $2 billion. Much of his wealth comes from his Yeezy sneaker brand and from his partnerships with Gap and Adidas. However, Ye recently cut business ties with Gap, and Adidas said it is also reviewing its business relationship with him. JPMorgan Chase also cut ties with the rapper.
Parler is one of many right-wing-friendly platforms that have emerged during the Donald Trump era, with supporters of the former president alleging unfair treatment through Twitter and other apps. There’s also Gettr, run by former Trump adviser Jason Miller, and Trump’s own app Truth Social, whose parent company is under a federal investigation as it seeks to go public. The conservative-friendly video platform Rumble rolled out to the public last month.
Parler swept controversy last year regarding the role she played in the January 6, 2021 riots at the Capitol. This led a large number of technology companies, including The Google And the Amazonto me Black list service, making the app and website unavailable.
However, in September, Google brought the app back to its Play Store, stating that the company had modified some content moderation and enforcement policies. Apple restored the app on its App Store platform in April 2021.
Parler has sought to reduce its reliance on technologies from other companies by creating its own cloud infrastructure on-premises. The company created a new parent company in September, called Parlement Technologies, that aims to provide its cloud service for online businesses. “The future cannot be canceled,” the company said at the time.
Terms of the deal include technical support for Parler from the parent company, as well as use of its own cloud services, according to an announcement Monday.
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