A social media platform designed to be an alternative to Twitter has been taken down to undergo an assessment.
On Friday, Starboard announced it had completed its acquisition of Parler, which it called “the world’s pioneering uncancelable free speech platform.”
In a statement, Starboard said, “No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more. By refocusing on the cloud and IT infrastructure space George Farmer has done an exceptional job at successfully leading Parlement into a critically important industry where it has already begun to excel.”
Ryan Coyne, CEO of Starboard said, “Parler’s large user base and additional strategic assets represent an enormous opportunity for Starboard to continue to build aggressively in our media and publishing business.”
“The team at Parler has built an exceptional audience and we look forward to integrating that audience across all of our existing platforms,” he added.
Check out the statement below:
Parler has officially been acquired by Starboard, which announced plans to temporarily shut down Parler in order to launch a revamped version of the social network. pic.twitter.com/FIKVxQ6489
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) April 14, 2023
Starboard went on to explain:
“While the Parler app as it is currently constituted will be pulled down from operation to undergo a strategic assessment, we at Starboard see tremendous opportunities across multiple sectors to continue to serve marginalized or even outright censored communities – even extending beyond domestic politics.”
“Advancements in AI technology, along with the existing code base and other new features, provide an opportunity for Starboard to begin servicing unsupported online communities – building a home for them away from the ad-hoc regulatory hand of platforms that hate them,” the statement concluded.
The acquisition comes after a sale to rapper Kanye West was called off in December 2022.
“In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler. This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November,” the company said in a statement at the time.
It added, “Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community.”
Parler faced controversy before its acquisition by Starboard.
In 2021, it was removed from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. Additionally, Amazon stopped hosting it on its Amazon Web Service.
It was later let back on the Google Play store and the App Store.
