Kanye 'Ye' West has inked a deal with Parlement Technologies to buy Parler, the extreme right-wing copycat of Twitter that was started to "fight against Big Tech, Big Government, censorship and cancel culture," reports 'Variety'.
Parler, founded in 2018, and banned by both Apple and Google's play stores after the January 6 Capitol Hill riots in the U.S., has been described as an American alt-tech microblogging and social networking service associated with Donald Trump supporters, conservatives, conspiracy theorists, and far-right extremists.
Posts on the service usually contain far-right content, anti-Semitic rants, and conspiracy theories such as those floated by QAnon.
West's move to acquire Parler comes after Twitter and Instagram restricted the music artiste and entrepreneur's accounts earlier this month because he posted anti-Semitic comments, according to 'Variety'.
Terms of West's proposed deal for Parler were not disclosed. In a statement, West and Parlement said: "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."
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"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, quoted by 'Variety'.
Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer claimed West's acquisition of Parler "will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again."
