Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has agreed to acquire conservative-oriented social media app Parler, the platform announced early Monday.
Parler is a controversial alternative to apps like Twitter and Facebook and touts itself as a “free speech” and “uncanceable” space. It was forced offline last year for its ties to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The move comes after a week the rapper was locked out of his Twitter account and restricted on Instagram amid backlash for antisemitic posts.
Parlement Technologies, the parent company of Parler, announced “it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler” to Ye, who has been “taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech.”
Oct. 10, 202200:27
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Ye said in a statement announcing the plans.
Under the terms of the initial agreement, the parties will enter into a definite purchase agreement and expect to close on the deal in the fourth quarter of 2022, the company said in a statement.
“The terms of the proposed transaction would include ongoing technical support from Parlement and the use of private cloud services via Parlement’s private cloud and data center infrastructure,” the statement said.
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. Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative,” Farmer said. “Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
