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Kanye West agrees to buy Parler social media platform

Kanye's acquisition of Parler will include the controversial social media platform, its technical support, and cloud service infrastructure.

TJ Denzer

October 17, 2022 11:05 AM

Image via CNN

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Some may recall during Donald Trump’s presidency when Parler was launched as a culmination of far right dismay over being banned on Twitter and Facebook. Parler has had troubles since, including being banned off and on from various storefronts and other social media. However, it looks like Kanye West is interested in keeping Parler running. The controversial musical artist has signaled intent to buy and acquire Parler, along with its cloud services and technical support departments.

Kanye’s decision to buy Parler was announced this week, as reported by Bloomberg. According to West, it comes out of a desire to protect conservative freedom of speech and ensure a platform where such voices can express themselves freely.

“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 in a statement regarding the deal.

Both Kanye West and Parler have faced restrictions online. Parler has been taken off and let back onto various app platforms a few times regarding its moderation of inappropriate, violent, or racist content.

On the other end of things, Kanye has found himself in plenty of hot water as well. The artist brushed elbows with Donald Trump throughout the president’s administration. Even since, West has gone on to make further troubling statements and has been notably and recently accused of antisemitism in statements that got his account restricted on Instagram, as reported by NBC. The artist has since circled his wagons, going on Fox News and Tucker Carlson to double down in allegedly sharing anti-jew conspiracy theories.

Kanye West buying a conservative social media platform may not be how anyone expected him to respond to restrictions on Instagram, but it looks like Parler is about to be part of West’s empire. Stay tuned as we continue to follow for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.