ARS TECHNICA - Parler's owner reportedly laid off most of its staff and executives. These layoffs continued through at least the end of December, when ~75% of staffers were let go in total, leaving ~20 employees left working at both Parler and the parent company's cloud services venture. The layoffs began about 2 weeks after Parlement Technologies ended a deal to sell Parler to Ye (formerly Kanye West).
36 posts categorized "Parler"
Parler Owner Laid Off 75% of Staff and Has Only 20 Employees Left
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Kanye West Is Buying Parler, the Controversial 'Free Speech Social Network'
MASHABLE - Kanye West, or Ye as he is now known, is buying Parler, a controversial social media network touting itself as a "free speech" alternative to platforms like Twitter. The app has only just been restored to the Google Play Store, after being removed for posts inciting violence during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Ye's acquisition will "further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment". The deal is expected to close towards the end of this year.
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Parler Forms a New Parent Company to Offer 'Uncancelable' Cloud Services
TECH CRUNCH - Parler has acquired a cloud company called Dynascale to expand its vision beyond offering an (ostensibly) anything-goes social app to provide infrastructure for businesses that run the risk of getting the boot from mainstream providers. Parler will now operate under a new parent company known as Parlement Technologies, which also announced a fresh round of $16M for the pivot toward infrastructure.
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Parler Is Back on Google Play After a Year-long Ban
MASHABLE - Parler, the infamous conservative social media app, has been added back to the Google Play store and is again available for download after being banned from the Android marketplace for well over a year. The social app is allowed back into play with, apparently, stronger AI-based moderation to abide by Google's developer policies.
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Parler Secures Dismissal of 46 Labs' Trademark Complaint
LAW STREET MEDIA - The District of Nevada issued a trademark ruling in favor of defendant social media platform Parler LLC over plaintiff 46 Labs LLC's opposition, finding no likelihood of consumer confusion. The controversy involves the companies' dueling 'P'-shaped logos, which the plaintiff claims look almost identical except for their color difference. The logo 46 Labs has used and registered for Peeredge since 2015 is a stylized blue 'P.' Parler operates a social media platform that launched in August 2018. In connection with the platform, Parler utilizes a red stylized 'P.'
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Parler Announces Social Media 'Special Arrangement' With Melania Trump
THE HILL - Parler announced that it is engaging in a social media "special arrangement" with former first lady Melania Trump to share "exclusive communications" on the social media network. Parler said that Trump would share "exclusive communications on Parler," noting it is already powering her blockchain technology and nonfungible token platform, MelaniaTrump.com.
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Parler Raises $20M in Funding
TECH CRUNCH - The conservative social media Parler has raised $20M in funding. The app, which claims to have ~16M registered users, describes its mission as one focusing on protecting "against the authoritarian powers of Big Tech, Big Government, and cancel culture." Parler's mobile app has been downloaded ~11.3M times globally since its debut.
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Parler's Dispute With Amazon Headed Back to King County Superior Court
THE SEATTLE TIMES - A Seattle federal district judge approved Parler's request that its complaint against Amazon Web Services is heard in county court, the latest U-turn in a case that has ping-ponged between courts for months. Judge Barbara Rothstein's order remanding the case to King County Superior Court was sealed to protect information related to Parler's ownership.
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Parler Reportedly Refused to Ban Trump's Critics
THE VERGE - June 30 - Parler and representatives of Donald Trump were reportedly considering making Trump an active member of the platform after he left office. Still, Parler apparently pushed back on one key part of the proposed arrangement: the platform did not want to ban Trump's detractors.
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Parler Is Cracking Down on Hate Speech - but Only on iPhones
WASHINGTON POST - May 18 - When Parler returned to life on Apple's App Store, it was designed to be a less offensive version than what users can see elsewhere. Parler uses a new artificial intelligence moderation system with more stringent standards for the App Store than other platforms. Posts labeled "hate" by Parler's new artificial intelligence moderation system won't be visible on iPhones or iPad. Meanwhile, Parler is in no rush to return to the Google Play store.
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Parler Risks Charges of Selling out With Apple Return
THE HILL - Apr 29 - Parler is returning to Apple's App Store after making some changes demanded by the company. Still, the platform faces accusations of selling out to Big Tech and risks losing some of its key user bases. Parler said that some posts that will be prohibited in the App Store version of Parler would remain visible on the web-based version of Parler that has relaunched after Amazon's web hosting service pulled it in January.
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Apple Restores Parler to App Store
VOA NEWS - Apr 20 - Apple will allow the self-proclaimed free speech social media app Parler back in the App Store. The news came from a letter from Apple to Colorado Republican Congressman Ken Buck and Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, who had pressed the company about its removal of Parler.
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Amazon Claims Parler Trying to Conceal Owners
THE CANADIAN PRESS - Apr 15 - Amazon has accused Parler, the social network known as a conservative alternative to Twitter, of trying to conceal its ownership amid a legal dispute between Amazon and Parler stemming from the U.S. Capitol riots. Angelo Calfo, an attorney representing Parler, disputed Amazon's claim and argued that the burden was on Amazon to prove who owns Parler. Parler did share information about its corporate structure with Amazon at the start of its lawsuit, Calfo said. But the documents were sealed to protect the identities of the parties due to threats of violence.
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It's Never Been Easier to Start a Social Network. Succeeding Is Another Story
CNN BUSINESS - Apr 9 - Trump is reportedly planning to launch a social media platform. Last year TikTok hit the 100m user mark in the U.S. Clubhouse, Gab and Parler emerged. Early social networks like Facebook and Twitter enjoyed a distinct advantage: They were early movers. Today, advances in tech have made it trivial to establish a website and build social functionality: (Heroku on Amazon, or Microsoft Azure with code from Github). A barebones copycat of Facebook might cost $25k, but bandwidth and storage costs could quickly spiral out of control. If you ended up with tens of millions of engaged users, costs could be a $1m/mo. An even bigger challenge is figuring out what product to offer and USPs. A lot of the first invites to Clubhouse, similar to LinkedIn, went to VCs and founders. Everyone wants to join the network where the investors are. Then there's still the question of profitability.
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Parler vs. Amazon: Amazon Strikes Back!
MIND MATTERS - Apr 8 - Parler has been in a fierce legal battle with Amazon since it was removed from Amazon's platforms on Jan 10. Parler recently attempted to take the battle to state court but Amazon employed a hardball - and controversial - legal tactic to avoid the dangers of a state lawsuit. The case is now in the hands of Judge Barbara J. Rothstein, the same judge who ruled in Amazon's favor in January.
by Caitlin Bassett
See full article at Mind Matters
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