“You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain” Parler user RevDemon wrote that comment in response to social network Parler’s admission that they supplied information to the FBI in the leadup to the January 6th Capitol breach. According to Mashable, during Congress’ grilling of Facebook, Youtube and Twitter CEO’s on Friday the 26th on Section 230 violations, Parler threw shade at the big three suggesting they were being scapegoated by them to avoid being held accountable themselves for the fact that much of the Jan. 6th riot was organized not on Parler but on Facebook and Twitter!
According to Mashable,
“One major point Parler focuses on its letter is that the company “referred violent content and incitement from Parler’s platform over 50 times before January 6th” as well as “specific threads of violence” relating to events being planned at the Capitol on Jan. 6.”
This affirms that yes, the platform “referred” users to the FBI for investigation and possible prosecution based on their posts. The announcement was a bombshell to Parler’s largely conservative and libertarian base who bristled immediately and began expressing their outrage over the behavior of the supposedly “free speech” platform.
The Wall Street Journal broke the story, the wrote,
“Parler referred violent content from its platform to the FBI more than 50 times in the weeks before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the company said Thursday, following criticism that it failed to adequately police threats ahead of the deadly attack….The social-media site referred a number of posts to law enforcement, including one on Dec. 24 from a user who called for an “armed force” of 150,000 people to “react to the congressional events of January 6,” according to the letter, which included the post and communications with FBI officials among its exhibits and has been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.”
The legal team representing Parler wrote in the letter, that the posts referred to the FBI were “only a fraction of the dozens of posts” according to Newsweek,
“Far from being the far-right instigator… that Big Tech has portrayed Parler to be, the facts conclusively demonstrate that Parler has been a responsible and law-abiding company focused on ensuring that only free and lawful speech exists on its platform. Parler has always recognized that there are legal limits to free speech.”
Parler Users Responded…. Badly
The new social media platform’s user base didn’t respond well. With many expressing disgust that Parler, instead of differentiating themselves from mainstream social media, proved they are the same.
- @Gatt4 wrote, “Parler is now the Gestapo.”
- @MAGADAWG1776 wrote, “free speech my ass”
- @Busslerannie said, “Am I going to have to leave this platform, too?”
- @Roberttouchettel wrote, “No platform is free. The all need to be shut down. It only takes a handful of pissed off electricians to throw thosr clowns back to the stoneage.”
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Parler responded to the unending torrent of derision and criticism with a post to their platform. While several responses were supportive of Parler’s stance, there were many who considered the platform’s actions a betrayal. As the fallout from this revelation continues, President Trump’s announcement of his upcoming social media venture, couldn’t possibly come at a better time.
