Kanye West, as he was popularly known before changing his name to Ye, is buying out Parler, a rightwing social media network that proclaims to be “the world’s pioneering uncancellable free speech platform”.
This comes just days after Twitter and Instagram banned Ye for antisemitic posts.
Announcing this on Monday, Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, said in a statement: “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-cancellable environment.”
Ye, quoted in Parler press release, said: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”
Twitter locked Ye’s account and removed an October 8 tweet, in which he said he was “going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”. He has since created an account on Parler.
George Farmer, Parlement Technologies CEO, welcomed Ye and said: “This deal 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.
“Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honoured to help him achieve his goals.”
The parties intend to enter into a definitive purchase agreement and expect to close during the fourth quarter of 2022. The terms of the proposed transaction was not disclosed. Parlement had earlier said it had raised $56 million in funding from outside investors.
Ye is estimated to have a net worth of $2 billion. He recently severed a lucrative business tie-up with clothing retailer Gap recently.
Parlement is based in Nashville, and the app has been reinstated on both Google Play Store and App Store after it was cited for lack of content moderation policies and enforcement. It was launched in September 2018 and is favoured by many conservatives who take issue with moderation policies on mainstream apps such as Facebook and Twitter.
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