Remember Parler? While it might not be garnering as much media attention these days as it did back in early 2021, it’s still around. And it looks like it’s going to be owned by Ye (the artist who used to be known as Kanye West).
I saw a tweet and blog post about the news from DomainGang and assumed it was parody, but no. Reality is stranger than fiction.
You can read the official press release about the acquisition here.
Ye feels he’s being censored by “Big tech” which probably explains why he’s attracted to the concept of buying his own social network.
“Ye has become the richest Black man in history through music and apparel and is taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech, using his far-reaching talents to further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment.”
I’ve no idea what on earth a “non-cancelable environment” is, as the entire concept of “cancel” seems to have expanded to encompass anything that the far right disagrees with.
I’ve also no idea how at a practical and technical level it can work and still be usable by normal people. While you can use a variety of technologies that do not rely on the mainstream technologies and providers in doing so you render them practically impossible to use for non-technical users.
For now Parler is still advertising in their press release that their app is available via both Google and Apple’s app stores, which is a little ironic. It’s also a little odd that Ye’s profile on Parler appears to only have been created today and that it’s using his former moniker… But what would I know?
