Parler has become infamous as a place for far-right commentary (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto)
Parler has been banned from Google’s Play Store and the Apple App Store on iPhones and iPads over the weekend.
The social media company has also had its website taken down after Amazon decided to stop hosting it on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.
All three companies tied Parler to the events that took place in the US Capitol and gave it an ultimatum to moderate its behaviour or face a ban.
There has been mounting speculation that Donald Trump may find a new voice on Parler after he lost access to his accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Many people – mostly conservative Trump supporters – fled Twitter to Parler amid claims of censorship and political bias after losing the election.
The app’s founder claimed that five million people were active on the platform the week after the election, an eight-fold increase on normal traffic levels.
What is Parler?
Parler bills itself as a free speech platform (Getty Images)
Parler is the self-proclaimed ‘world’s town square’ and has been around since 2018. But it only recently became mainstream after the fallout from the US election last year.
Parler is a Twitter-style social media platform that works around a newsfeed of accounts that you can subscribe to follow.
There’s also the option to upload images and craft posts of up to 1,000 characters.
Posts and messages on the platform are known as ‘parleys’, derived from the French and customary lingo for 19th-century types that wanted to chat.
Why is it controversial?
The fallout from the US election has had a big impact on Parler (Getty Images)
Like a zillion other social media platforms, Parler professes to be ‘free speech’.
It specifically describes itself as a ‘non-biased, free speech social media focused on protecting user’s rights.’
As a result, anyone who perceives that mainstream social media sites like Twitter or Facebook are censoring them for their politics may find a new life on Parler.
In the wake of the US election result, many Trump supporters and conservative voices jumped over to Parler because they felt Twitter is too liberal.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wanted his followers to join him on Parler, because he said Twitter tried to ‘silence’ his views and opinions. Similarly, a right wing radio personality in the US, Mark Levin, has repeatedly mentioned he is a Parler user. According to Levin, Facebook is pursuing a ‘suppression campaign’ against his posts.
And, in fact, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Parler has received a chunk of investment from conservative hedge-fund doner Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah.
What is Parler’s view?
The app has terms and conditions that users have to agree to (Getty Images)
On its website – before it was removed – Parler said it was ‘the solution to problems that have surfaced in recent years due to changes in Big Tech policy influenced by various special-interest groups.’
Founder John Matze wrote an open letter following the surge in users
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