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Tbf, I don't think Parler ever saw itself as extremist. Obviously it was used by extremists, but as I've seen mentioned in other threads lately: When you create

by idrios 6y ago

Tbf, I don't think Parler ever saw itself as extremist. Obviously it was used by extremists, but as I've seen mentioned in other threads lately: When you create an alternative platform from the mainstream, the people who join it are either idealists, or are the people who were banned from the mainstream platforms. And if you don't have the resources to moderate those extremists (or foolishly choose not to), the extremists take over.

ggggtez 6y ago
The CEO literally was personally banning anyone who posted anything left-wing, and yet claims that he's for "free speech". It's laughable. If he wasn't cynically cashing in, then he's not a very deep thinker either. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/27/parlers-founder-explains-why-he-built-trumps-new-favorite-social-media-app/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/27/parlers-f... They literally welcomed pro-saudi comment farms to their service as well: “The nationalist movement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made it known that big tech is censoring them at rates we have never experienced in the United States,” Parler wrote in a post on its own account on the site. “Let us welcome them as we all fight for our rights together.” Reminder: Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, ordered the assassination of a US journalist not that long ago. So, in a sense, Parler is really the social network of choice for dictators and extremists. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-saudi-politics/unhappy-at-twitter-thousands-of-saudis-crash-pro-trump-social-network-idUSKCN1TE32S https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-saudi-politics/un...
- weare138 6y ago
  Parler is also financially backed by the Mercer family, who are conservative mega-donors and right wing political activists. https://www.reuters.com/article/parler-funding-mercer/social-media-platform-parler-gets-backing-from-mercer-family-wsj-idUSKBN27V020 https://www.reuters.com/article/parler-funding-mercer/social...
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- baybal2 6y ago
  Saudi watanjies joining the fray? That's a complete tragicomedy now.
- vfclists 6y ago
  Twitter is also the service of choice of US Presidents who order drone strikes against innocents abroad.
koyote 6y ago
I do not know if it was the original intention of the founders, but you can't ignore that the people who are/were funding it are influential far-right figures.
- Number157 6y ago
  Are they though? Maybe I just lack some knowledge but it seems there's a trend where these definitions are shifting so that right become far right, and sometimes even people who would have been left are suddenly being called right. That said I don't know much about these particular people.
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  - LarvaFX 6y ago
    Strange I have the feeling it's quite the opposite. The "progressive" democrats would just be center-right in my country (Germany).
    - Number157 6y ago
      They seem to be comfortably in the progressive group in terms on their politics, if not always their rhetorics which sometimes seems calculated to appeal to center or right wing voters. But you can pretty much completely disregard what anyone in politics says and just go by what they do.
- toomim 6y ago
  When you say "far-right" I think you mean "moderate conservative."
  - LarvaFX 6y ago
    The Mercers??! Rebecca Mercer?
    - 6y ago
_peeley 6y ago
"The moral of the story is: if you’re against witch-hunts, and you promise to found your own little utopian community where witch-hunts will never happen, your new society will end up consisting of approximately three principled civil libertarians and seven zillion witches. It will be a terrible place to live even if witch-hunts are genuinely wrong." - Scott Alexander [0] [0] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/01/neutral-vs-conservative-the-eternal-struggle/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/01/neutral-vs-conservativ...
- idrios 6y ago
  Took me a while to get around to reading & finishing this, but this is a phenomenal article that could have exactly predicted what happened with Parler, and describes the current polarization in the US far better than I could. Thank you for sharing

by idrios 6y ago

ggggtez 6y ago

The CEO literally was personally banning anyone who posted anything left-wing, and yet claims that he's for "free speech". It's laughable. If he wasn't cynically cashing in, then he's not a very deep thinker either. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/27/parlers-founder-explains-why-he-built-trumps-new-favorite-social-media-app/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/27/parlers-f... They literally welcomed pro-saudi comment farms to their service as well: “The nationalist movement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made it known that big tech is censoring them at rates we have never experienced in the United States,” Parler wrote in a post on its own account on the site. “Let us welcome them as we all fight for our rights together.” Reminder: Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, ordered the assassination of a US journalist not that long ago. So, in a sense, Parler is really the social network of choice for dictators and extremists. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-saudi-politics/unhappy-at-twitter-thousands-of-saudis-crash-pro-trump-social-network-idUSKCN1TE32S https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-saudi-politics/un...

weare138 6y ago
Parler is also financially backed by the Mercer family, who are conservative mega-donors and right wing political activists. https://www.reuters.com/article/parler-funding-mercer/social-media-platform-parler-gets-backing-from-mercer-family-wsj-idUSKBN27V020 https://www.reuters.com/article/parler-funding-mercer/social...
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baybal2 6y ago
Saudi watanjies joining the fray? That's a complete tragicomedy now.
vfclists 6y ago
Twitter is also the service of choice of US Presidents who order drone strikes against innocents abroad.

koyote 6y ago

I do not know if it was the original intention of the founders, but you can't ignore that the people who are/were funding it are influential far-right figures.

Number157 6y ago
Are they though? Maybe I just lack some knowledge but it seems there's a trend where these definitions are shifting so that right become far right, and sometimes even people who would have been left are suddenly being called right. That said I don't know much about these particular people.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- LarvaFX 6y ago
  Strange I have the feeling it's quite the opposite. The "progressive" democrats would just be center-right in my country (Germany).
  - Number157 6y ago
    They seem to be comfortably in the progressive group in terms on their politics, if not always their rhetorics which sometimes seems calculated to appeal to center or right wing voters. But you can pretty much completely disregard what anyone in politics says and just go by what they do.
toomim 6y ago
When you say "far-right" I think you mean "moderate conservative."
- LarvaFX 6y ago
  The Mercers??! Rebecca Mercer?
  - 6y ago

_peeley 6y ago

"The moral of the story is: if you’re against witch-hunts, and you promise to found your own little utopian community where witch-hunts will never happen, your new society will end up consisting of approximately three principled civil libertarians and seven zillion witches. It will be a terrible place to live even if witch-hunts are genuinely wrong." - Scott Alexander [0] [0] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/01/neutral-vs-conservative-the-eternal-struggle/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/05/01/neutral-vs-conservativ...

idrios 6y ago
Took me a while to get around to reading & finishing this, but this is a phenomenal article that could have exactly predicted what happened with Parler, and describes the current polarization in the US far better than I could. Thank you for sharing