Who is Parler CEO George Farmer?
GEORGE Farmer is the CEO of the social media app, Parler, an alt-tech site aimed at appealing to conservatives.
Singer Kanye West announced he will be purchasing the platform after he was blocked on Twitter only days after his account was reactivated.
Who is George Farmer?
George Farmer joined as operating chief for the social media app, Parler, in March 2021 and was promoted that May to take over as chief executive.
He replaced Mark Meckler who said in a statement that he had resigned because he met resistance from Parler's board for “a more effective approach to content moderation."
However, conservative talk-show host Dan Bongino responded in a statement on Facebook and said Matze was responsible for "really bad decisions" that resulted in Parler's removal from the Google and Apple app stores.
Parler was removed from the app stores following the January 6 Capitol riots, saying it failed to moderate "egregious content."
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After taking the CEO position at Parler, Farmer told that he had worked to get the app back online and meet the criteria set by the app stores.
"The whole technological infrastructure is based in woke corporate America, and that makes it very difficult if you’re a free-speech-oriented platform," he told the outlet.
"We have taken a lot of steps to reinforce our platform and to move away from being focused on using any third-party providers, which ideologically might disagree with us being a free-speech-minded platform and that was a very difficult process and that remains a very difficult process."
He added: "It’s not easy to try and use basically everything in-house or build it from scratch, which is exactly what we’ve done."
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What is Parler?
Parler was founded in 2018 as a "free speech-driven" app that skyrocketed in popularity amongst US conservatives who have left Facebook and Twitter or were banned from the apps.
The app has received wide support from far-right individuals such as talk-show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and the white supremacist group, the Proud Boys.
Amazon shut down the platform following the Capitol riots, saying it had "incited violence."
reported that Parler sued Amazon in January 2021, accusing the company of illegal and politically motivated reasoning for shutting the app down.
The lawsuit revealed an email correspondence from Amazon in which the company cited 98 Parler posts that “clearly encourage and incite violence.”
According to emails obtained by , Amazon told Parler: “Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms.
“It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.”
The CEO of Yonder, Jonathon Morgan told that apps like Parler, 4Chan, and former President Donald Trump's app Truth Social, create a place for individuals who were banned from primary social media sites to go.
Yonder is an artificial intelligence firm that specializes in tracking misinformation, and speaking of the alt-tech apps, Morgan told the outlet: “These are unmoderated kind of closed spaces where only people with fringe and extremist ideologies spend their time.
“That means the information diet that they’re consuming is completely homogenous.”
He added that this idea could create more radicalized thinking from those who use it.
As of August 2022, Parler has over 16million registered users in the US and raised $20million to fund its continuation.
Is Kanye West taking control of Parler?
Kanye West, who changed his name to Ye, announced on October 17 that he has bought Parler for an undisclosed amount.
The move comes after Ye was banned from Twitter for antisemitic posts only days after his account was reinstated.
“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.
Parler said in a statement that the partnership with Ye “ensures Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome.”
Farmer said the agreement for Ye to take over the platform will enhance the app's free speech initiative.
“Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again,” Farmer said in a statement on the company’s Twitter account.
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The deal between Parler and Ye is expected to be finalized by the end of 2022, and reported the deal will include technical support provided by Parler's parent company, Parlement Technologies.
"Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative," Farmer said, adding: "Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.”