Ah Parler and Truth Social: To Moderate or Not Moderate — That Is The Question
FREE SPEECH HERE!! (Except we have to moderate to get our app on major platforms like Google Play Store…soo yeah…about that FREE SPEECH)
So..remember back when Parler was just starting…and all the GOP politicians and the MAGA trolls were like “We’re going to go play over there! Where no one can tell us what to say!! NEENER NEENER EVIL TWITTER PEOPLE! YOU STINK AND WE HATE THAT STUPID BIRD ANYWAY!!! HAHHHAHAHHAHAH YOU’LL MISS US!!!”
And then…
Parler, the alternative social media platform favored by conservatives, now finds itself virtually homeless on the internet as Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) have all booted it from their platforms in a span of a little more than 24 hours.
Amazon said it would remove Parler from its cloud hosting service, Amazon Web Services, Sunday evening, effectively kicking it off of the public internet after mounting pressure from the public and Amazon employees.
And then they went all quiet real fast. Parler plummeted from it’s heights of a whopping 20 million users (Which is about double the population of LA Basin…sooo yaay right wingers? You almost have the entire population of Cali on one platform…oooh slow close to impressive. Just fyi Twitter had 396 million but A for effort Parler!) They got deplatformed from everywhere, and a hush filled the internet, as if millions of trolls got shoved back into their caves, at least momentarily.
They were banned in 2021…and well looky here, as of Sept 2,2022…
Since then, Parler has added the missing tools and improved its content moderation, paving the way for it to come back to Google’s official app marketplace, Google said.
“As we’ve long stated, apps are able to appear on Google Play provided they comply with Play’s developer policies,” a Google spokesperson said. “All apps on Google Play that feature User Generated Content (UGC) are required to implement robust moderation practices that prohibit objectionable content, provide an in-app system for reporting objectionable UGC, take action against that UGC where appropriate, and remove or block abusive users who violate the app’s terms of use and/or user policy.”
Parler’s restoration was first reported by Axios.
Parler said Friday it has worked “continuously” in recent months to upgrade its systems, adding that it was restored to Apple’s app store more than a year ago. Android users, meanwhile, have been able to install Parler directly from its website — a process known as “side-loading” — but not by downloading it from Google’s proprietary app store.
“We are pleased that Parler is back on Google Play as a native app so that Android users no longer have to side-load,” said Samuel Lipoff, Parler’s chief technology officer, in a statement. “While away from Google Play, we have worked diligently to build a more feature-rich and dynamic user experience. Now is a perfect time to join Parler and rediscover the non-partisan platform where we enable people to speak freely!”
This is the Parler version of “Look, heheh, guys. I mean, we didn’t really meeeaan that we didn’t need you, it was just all bluffing you know? Got to put a good show for the people? Right? Eh? We’ll do the moderation thing, just, you know, let us come play again? Please? We love you! Really! You’re the bestest ever!”
Now, at one point Parler was in talks with Trump to give Trump 40% of the company if he would “post exclusively on Parler” Well, Trump couldn’t be bothered to wait over a year for Parler to get their crap together or bow down to the evil corporations that repress his ability to post threatening post! No Sirree! Not Trump! He’s his own man! (Whose wholly owned by Russia and is a grifter who has failed in all his business dealings, but pish posh, those are mere technicalities).
Trump made Truth Social, like Parler but better! (Mainly because all the money would go to him).
Now Truth Social started out with 1.5 million views when it launched….aaaannnd now it’s down to about 300k.
Could have something to do with this…
Google hasn’t yet approved Truth Social’s Android app for distribution via its Play Store because of insufficient content moderation, a Google spokesperson tells Axios.
Driving the news: Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes last week claimed the decision about when the app would be available on Android “is up to Google,” but Google insists that the ball is in Truth Social’s court.
What Nunes is saying: “I don’t know what’s taking them so long.”
What Google is saying: “On Aug. 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play.”
Or you know…maybe this?
And that is one of a slew of problems for the would-be Twitter competitor. The Patent and Trademark Office this month refused Trump’s application for a trademark for the site’s name. The site has been panned for forcing people who want to sign up to languish on a waitlist.
The SEC and federal prosecutors are investigating the origins of a deal through which a so-called special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC), called Digital World Acquisition Corp., was set up to eventually take over Trump’s company. The feds appear to be looking into whether the deal was negotiated before the SPAC went public, which would be illegal.
New subpoenas served on the firm in June suggest the probe could be expanding. News of the federal scrutiny has contributed to the company’s stock price falling 75 percent since its peak, with reported losses to the tune of $6.5 million.
and oh look, it’s in even bigger trouble..
Digital World Acquisition’s SEC filings have also sounded a series of warnings about the company’s chances for success. In May, it said Trump’s company “may never generate any operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations.” The filings have repeatedly warned that the venture is endangered by its reliance on the former president. “If President Trump were to discontinue his relationship with TMTG due to death, disability, or any other reason, or limit his involvement with TMTG due to becoming a candidate for political office, TMTG would be significantly disadvantaged,” they said in May. And as Mother Jones has reported, Truth Social does not even get exclusive access to his content. Trump is not required to use the site to post any content related to politics, which, of course, is most of what he says.
And with Google blocking Truth Social there are new calls for Apple to dump them as well. Adding to that is Trump refuses to use Amazon Web Services is what caused it to be such a laggy app anyway which drove people away from it to begin with, and since he’s not paying his web hosting company (RightForge, I mentioned that in another article, he owes them $1.6 million and counting), and they are threatening to sue him Trump may be, once again, muted.
Wouldn’t that be lovely for us all?
However, all this puts Trump in an awkward spot. If he backs down from the anti content moderation path he’ll likely be seen as a sellout (he is one, but his followers refuse to believe it), but if he doesn’t and still fails to pay his webhost (which he will, because paying bills seems to be anathema to him), he’s looking at having no platform with which to spew his bile.
So, in the end, both of these “We hate the man and screw the evil corporate overlords!!!” (Which is ironic as their party is very beholden to corporate overlords) are being forced into making this “devil’s bargain” if you will. Play nice and maybe don’t allow treasonous rantings on your “free speech” site or be forced back into the dark recesses of 4Chan where you actually come from but where you will have no legitimacy or fundraising ability at all.
Hmmm…which is more important to them, the grifting or the treason?
Decisions, decisions.
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