Kanye West pictured at a performance in 2011. Image: NRK P3 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Ye has entered into an agreement to buy the social media platform favoured by conservatives after he was suspended from both Twitter and Instagram.
Rap artist and fashion entrepreneur Kanye West is set to buy Parler, the social media platform popular with Donald Trump supporters.
Parlement Technologies, the parent company behind Parler, today (17 October) announced that it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell the platform to West, who is now legally known as Ye.
A definitive purchase agreement is expected to close before year end. The proposed deal includes ongoing technical support from Parlement and the use of its private cloud and data centre infrastructure.
According to a statement issued by Parler, West 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”.
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” said Ye.
The move comes after Ye was locked out of both Instagram and Twitter for posting antisemitic comments on the platforms.
On Instagram, he accused rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of being controlled by Jewish people. Following the Instagram suspension, he returned to Twitter after a two-year hiatus from the platform and tweeted that he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people”. The posts have been removed from both platforms.
Elon Musk, currently in a legal battle that will determine whether or not he becomes the owner of Twitter, initially welcomed the rap star back to the platform.
Musk then followed up to say he had spoken with Ye about “his recent tweet” and expressed concerns, which he believed Ye “took to heart”.
Ye went on to appear on a podcast where he made further controversial remarks about George Floyd, whose death at the hands of a police officer sparked a major Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. In the course of the conversation, Ye cited Candace Owens, a conservative influencer who is married to the CEO of Parlement Technologies.
Ye also drew controversy at his recent Paris Fashion Week show where models wore ‘White lives matter’ T-shirts.
Headquartered in Nashville, Parlement Technologies is also the parent company of NFT marketplace DeepRedSky and private cloud provider Dynascale.
Speaking of the Parler deal, Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer 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.”
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Kanye West pictured at a performance in 2011. Image: NRK P3 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
