Kanye West (ye) has been in the headlines a lot lately over hateful comments he’s made about Jewish people and current events.
The rapper also recently appeared with conservative activist Candace Owens for the premiere of her new documentary on the death of George Floyd and the rise of BLM.
Now, he’s got a new announcement about his future plans. Ye will be buying the social media network Parler.
Ye Makes Shock Announcement
Ye said he will be buying Parler, but has not announced a specific price or timeline right now. The social media app, which is an alternative to Twitter, is owned by Parlement Technologies and has a stricter free speech policy than Twitter.
Ye was kicked off Twitter and Instagram recently, due to his posts where he threatened Jewish people. He also had his banking relationship terminated with JP Morgan Chase, who said he has until Nov. 21 to find another home for his Yeezy company and its assets.
Ye sometimes comes out with big promises about his plans, but then doesn’t follow through; so let’s wait to see if he really does buy Parler. It’s definitely possible and it’s clear he’s angry about being booted from Instagram and Twitter.
Ye definitely doesn’t do well in a place with as many rules as Twitter. He’s said very controversial things numerous times, including about the COVID vaccine, slavery, race relations, and religion; he doesn’t like to be told what he can say.
His recent wearing of a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt to a Paris fashion show shocked a lot of people, but it’s classic Ye: doing something that offends liberal sensibilities and never really being clear how much is trolling and how much is a sincere statement.
Kanye West says George Floyd passed away because of fentanyl and that the cop’s knee “wasn’t even on his neck like that” pic.twitter.com/sVKy3VK35O
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) October 16, 2022
Ye Explains His Motive
According to his motive about why he wants to buy Parler, Ye said it’s all about freedom of speech and being sick of the censorship of “conservative opinions.”
Parler hasn’t done as well as hoped since its launch in the summer of 2018, but having a celebrity name attached to it could make some changes.
The downside is the platform may just attract fringe figures who want to issue threats and make racist statements. The upside is the platform could serve as a place for truly free speech and discussion of controversial topics without censorship.
Parler has already been kicked off the internet after the January 6, 2021 riots, but relaunched a month ago. CEO George Farmer said he’s very open to Ye’s plan and looks forward to receiving the offer.
JP Morgan banned Kanye West from banking with them for things he said.
But they did keep Jeffrey Epstein as a client despite being convicted of abusing children.
🤡🤡🤡
— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) October 13, 2022
The Bottom Line
Love him or hate him, Ye is poised to make some changes in the social media landscape. Unlike somebody like Elon Musk, Ye has some truly controversial and offensive opinions.
This is a stress test for free speech to see whether there can still be a platform that allows it and to demarcate the line between what is inciting violence and what is free expression.
At the very least, if Ye could be considered to be inciting violence with his Twitter posts, then the network should also be kicking off hundreds of thousands of others who daily issue death threats against Christians, white people, Trump supporters, and conservatives.
