Meet Parler: The “non-biased free speech” platform for people that don’t know what free speech is

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If you frequent sites like Facebook and Twitter, you might have caught wind of this, but if not, let me catch you up. Parler is a social media platform that seemingly came out of nowhere, though it’s apparently been around since 2018.

It calls itself a non-biased platform for free speech. From the start, it’s very obvious the creators don’t actually know what free speech is (or choose to ignore facts) and is instead using the terminology to attract people that feel like they can’t voice their opinions on sites like Twitter (even though there is no proof of that).

I signed up for it after seeing a tweet (ironic) from Ted Cruz and was instantly greeted with suggestions to follow Breitbart and The Daily Caller. Ahhh yes, havens of non-biased free speech.  Once I was signed up, Parler offered me plenty of suggestions on people to follow, as well. These included (and still include) Team Trump, Eric Trump, Laralea Trump, Laura Loomer, Rudy Giuliani, and Ted Cruz. White people, white people as far as the eye can see. There is no official Donald Trump Parler account as of yet.

I can just taste the non-biased free speech goodness.

Here’s what Parler is (on the surface)

Screenshot: KnowTechie

So, at its core, Parler is yet another Twitter-esque social platform. You can post statuses, comment on other people’s statuses, and retweet them (called Echoes). Everything works well enough, with just a slight level of clunkiness found with most new social platforms.

There’s nothing special here, most suggestions seem to be alt-right personalities and news organizations. It’s an exhausting exercise to find anything that isn’t political on the platform, and none of it is what I would consider unbiased, but I understand that that is on the users and not the platform.

I also didn’t love having to provide my phone number to sign up, but I’m assuming that is one way the platform is trying to deter bots from entering the platform.

As for the “free speech” part, it’s all lip service. Parler has Terms and Conditions similar to other social sites, noting that it “may remove any content and terminate your access to the Services at any time and for any reason or no reason.” And that’s totally fine. No issues there. Social companies are completely within their rights to remove content it doesn’t want on the platform. But stop trying to pass off your service as a haven for free speech. It’s a joke and not a funny one.

Here’s MY experience with Parler

After signing up and choosing my favorite color for the site’s theme, Parler went ahead and posted my first status on my behalf. Bots (or people posing as bots, or maybe just tools, I honestly don’t know) quickly started commenting on the status. One person, called “Kim Jen Un” calls herself a “Parler Concierge” and made sure to let me know that Parler was about free speech and that if I had any questions to ask her. Hard pass.

Another bot person, called KarenForTheWin, spouted off some dribble, and told me to let her know if I wanted to show her “my #fatkidclub meal.” I hate it here.

As I explored people’s profiles, the non-biased free speech really started to show itself. One person discussed how they were stockpiling gunpowder to fight the libs. Another called liberals “libtards” because they  (and this is totally an assumption) are literally not capable of thought. Eric Trump is trying to convince people to visit the Trump Winery. Laura Loomer is asking for Bitcoin donations.

I have no clue what normal people are doing on here because they are practically nowhere to be found. Any opinion that is against Trump or, ya know, racists fucks, seems to be downvoted, because that’s a feature on the site because why wouldn’t it be.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go attempt to get banned off the platform by telling all of these people to go fuck themselves. Let’s see where free speech starts and ends. (Update before even posting: Yup, Parler is banning people they don’t like, because of course they are.)

What do you think? Does Parler interest you at all? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.