Parler, Backed by Mercer Family, Makes Play for Conservatives Mad at Facebook, Twitter--5th Update
November 14 2020 - 03:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Jeff Horwitz and Keach Hagey
As Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have taken a harder line
against unsubstantiated claims of a stolen presidential election,
prominent conservatives on both platforms have responded with anger
and a frequent retort: Follow me on Parler.
Launched in 2018, the libertarian-leaning social network was the
most downloaded app on both Android and Apple devices for most of
last week, according to data from Google and analytics firm App
Annie. Its leaders envision it as a free-speech-focused alternative
to the giants of Silicon Valley.
The company's user base more than doubled to 10 million in under
a week, making it difficult for its roughly 30-person staff to keep
up with the flood of new sign-ups.
"You'd fix one thing, and another would blow out," said Parler
chief executive John Matze. "We're now solid at this point."
The platform has deep-pocketed investors to fund further growth.
Hedge-fund investor Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah are
among the company's financial backers, according to people familiar
with the matter. The Mercers, who have not disclosed their
involvement with Parler, have previously financed a number of
conservative causes and backed Cambridge Analytica, the
controversial data firm that worked for President Trump's 2016
campaign.
Representatives for the Mercers declined to comment.
Allies of President Trump have framed Parler's rapid growth as a
rebuke to major tech platforms' efforts to more aggressively label
content or restrict the reach of posts that the platforms deemed
misleading or dangerous. Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo
announced she was quitting Twitter for Parler, where she amassed
more than 1 million followers. Conservative talk show host Dan
Bongino -- who is both one of Facebook's most popular content
creators and an investor in Parler -- heralded its growth as "a
collective middle finger to the tech tyrants."
Both of them have continued to post on Facebook and Twitter,
though, raising the question of whether Parler will eventually
complement or replace larger platforms with much bigger
audiences.
In part, that answer will be determined by the success of
Parler's business model, which eschews some of the foundational
tools of social media.
Twitter and Facebook gather extensive data about the content
users interact with -- and then customize what users see based on
what's likely to appeal to them. When the platforms detect content
that's popular among a swath of users, they promote that content
into more users' feeds -- creating the sort of viral sensations
social media is known for.
Parler doesn't do that. The platform doesn't use
content-recommendation algorithms, collects almost no data about
its users and, for privacy reasons, hasn't provided the tools to
let users easily cross-post from other platforms. Parler simply
shows users all the posts from everyone they follow.
While Parler's terms of service allow the app to tailor content
for its users in the future, executives said they were committed to
their libertarian principles.
"We're choosing to be a neutral platform," said Jeffrey Wernick,
the company's chief operating officer.
Parler's hands-off philosophy could test users.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Parler leaves virtually all
moderation decisions up to individuals, allowing them to choose
whether to apply filters that hide content such as hate speech,
graphic violence and pornography. The minimal enforcement that
exists -- primarily the removal of spam, threats of violence, or
illegal activity -- is handled by "community jurors," all currently
volunteers.
That policy leads to freewheeling political discussion. It also
allows some communities to flourish that don't fit as easily on
other platforms, such as a group of users who publish their nude
photos on the platform, Mr. Matze said.
Parler has also been embraced by individuals who have been
banned by other platforms. Far-right talk-show host Alex Jones, the
extremist group The Proud Boys and the "Stop the Steal" election
protest organizers all have established sizable followings on
Parler after being banned from Facebook.
In recent weeks the app has teemed with claims about election
fraud without offering evidence, white-supremacist content and
posts from backers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, the
Anti-Defamation League said in a blog post Thursday.
Mr. Matze said allowing those groups on the platform is
consistent with the company's commitment to free speech, even if
not all of it is to his taste.
"Those Q-Anon people, they creep me out," said Mr. Matz, the
26-year-old CEO who founded the Henderson, Nev.-based company after
graduating from the University of Denver.
"I can see why there's interest in this," said Antonio Garcia
Martinez, a former Facebook product manager and Twitter adviser,
noting that mainstream platforms must make concessions on free
speech in order to reach the broadest possible audience.
Yet recent history suggests that "at some point the world
revolts against this sort of thing," he said, noting the struggles
of alt-right platforms such as Gab. It faced both public
condemnation and a blockade by web-hosting and payment providers in
2018 after revelations that a man who killed 11 people at a
Pittsburgh synagogue had posted on Gab about plans to act on his
anti-Semitic beliefs. Gab said afterward that it would bolster
efforts to prevent threats of physical harm.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2020 15:38 ET (20:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024