Kanye West is buying the right-wing ‘free speech’ app Parler
Topics: Kanye West, Social Media, US News, Good News, Technology, Politics
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy. M4OS Photos / Alamy.
Topics: Kanye West, Social Media, US News, Good News, Technology, Politics
Controversial rapper Kanye West has agreed to purchase the 'uncancelable' conservative social media app Parler.
The social media company announced the sale in principle to West via a statement made to the press on Monday (October 17).
"In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," West said via a statement released by Parler, as per Reuters.
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The social media network added in a statement as per CNBC: "The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome."
Chief executive George Farmer of Parlement Technologies, the company behind Parler, added that with West at the helm of the app the social media platform will bring about serious global change.
"This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech," he said, as per TechCrunch.
"Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again."
He added: "Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honoured to help him achieve his goals."
The announcement of the deal did not include financial terms, however as per Cision PR Newswire the company appears to have raised USD$56 million (AUD$89 million, £31 million) in funding from outside investors.
Parler has been described as a right wing alternative to Twitter, with the platform attracting mostly conservatives dogged by controversy who have been booted from other social networking platforms.
West - or the rapper now known as Ye - has agreed to purchase the social media app after he was booted from Instagram and Twitter over a series of anti-semitic tweets and bizarre outbursts.
West was locked out of two major social media platforms in the wake of a number of bizarre anti-Jewish posts about fellow rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
The Donda rapper found himself in hot water with Meta, run by Mark Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, after he shared a post on Instagram that suggested Diddy was being controlled by Jewish people.
The controversial rapper told a YouTube podcast channel that Floyd’s death, which sparked a resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement, was due to drugs.