As Twitter’s controversy continues, Parler’s rival platform attracts ex-Tweeters

Parler, which calls itself a “non-biased free-speech driven” social media platform, saw a surge of 200k new users in recent weeks as disgruntled users abandon Twitter. Parler defines itself in ...

Parler, which calls itself a “non-biased free-speech driven” social media platform, saw a surge of 200k new users in recent weeks as disgruntled users abandon Twitter.

Twitter image

Parler defines itself in opposition to Jack Dorsey’s little blue bird — but, in reality, the company’s fate is tied to Twitter’s.

A business built for the banned

In 2018, a number of politically radical accounts — ranging across the political spectrum from Alex Jones’ InfoWars to the antifa group Smash Racism DC — were suspended from Twitter, prompting backlash.

So Parler launched in 2018 as an “alternative” to “lack of transparency in big tech, ideological censorship and privacy abuse,” offering safe harbor to people banned from Twitter.

After the platform attracted a few high-profile Twitter defectors including ex-mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani and far-right activist Laura Loomer, Parler became popular among people who felt “policed” by platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

People on Parler have one thing in common…

Hatred for Twitter.

Thanks to Giuliani (a famous Trump supporter) and Brad Parscale (Trump’s campaign manager and a proud Parler account-holder), most early Parler users were right-wing Americans who believed Twitter was unfairly biased against the American right.

But most of the 200k users who recently joined Parler are Saudi Arabian nationalists — who also hate Twitter.

The rapid influx of new users doubled the amount of people on Parler in less than a week, causing the platform to continuously crash. Now, Parler’s focused on building its platform to handle even more future free-speech refugees.

Meanwhile, at Twitter…

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been in hot water for months for allowing too much hate speech on his platform, is under pressure from Congress to take an even more active role in policing his platform.

Technically, Twitter is currently not responsible for its users’ content — even if it’s fake or defamatory.But, a coalition of lawmakers led by House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff is pushing for social media companies to actively moderate their platforms to prevent manipulation — which could drive even more Twitter users to Parler.

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