Parler has been taken offline after several vendors the social-media service relied on to operate, including Amazon.com Inc., ceased providing support, saying the service violated their content-moderation rules.
Before going dark, Parler had been quickly growing in popularity among conservatives, especially after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Some users turned to the platform to promote last week’s attack at the U.S. Capitol, according to social-media researchers and screenshots viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Here’s what we know about Parler and its users and what its future holds.
What is Parler?
Parler launched in 2018 and billed itself as a free-speech and unbiased alternative to larger social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Company executives said Parler had 15 million users before its website and apps were forced offline.
The company’s looser policies on content moderation attracted high-profile conservative media personalities such as Sean Hannity as well as supporters of President Trump, including some who have promoted unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen, as other platforms have cracked down on this kind of speech.
Parler had also been embraced by individuals who have been banned by other large social networks, such as far-right talk-show host Alex Jones and supporters of the group the Proud Boys.
