Parler, a conservative social media network, was bought by the digital media business Starboard on Friday. According to Starboard, it acquired Parler on Good Friday for an undisclosed sum and the sale was finalized that day.
Starboard made the statement on Friday, and the following day, the business took down Parler’s website. According to a remark on Parler.com (link opens in a new window), “no reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more.”
However, Starboard wants to make it clear that this is not meant to be taken as an attack on conservatives.
Nothing personal, just business. Continuing on from there, Starboard lauds former Parler CEO George Farmer for steering Parler’s previous parent business, Parlament Technologies, towards offering complementary IT and cloud service options.
“We focus on working with groups that are advocating for or otherwise advancing conservative causes or conservative beliefs,” Ryan Coyne, CEO of Starboard (formerly known as Olympic Media) at the time, commented to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Starboard, according to its many online profiles, is a digital marketing and advertising agency. According to the same article from 2021 in the Daily Caller, the firm collaborated with conservative groups including Turning Point USA and Republican congressmen like Jim Jordan, Elise Stefanik, and Madison Cawthorn.
“Parler’s large user base and additional strategic assets represent an enormous opportunity for Starboard to continue to build aggressively in our media and publishing business,” Ryan Coyne, CEO of Starboard, made the remark.
“The team at Parler has built an exceptional audience and we look forward to integrating that audience across all of our existing platforms.”Starboard has said it will utilize the funds from the acquisition to determine the best way forward for the firm.” begin servicing unsupported online communities.”
Right-wing users sought a more welcoming space to debate conspiracy theories and vent their frustration with Trump’s loss in 2020 on Parler, and the app’s popularity soared as a result.
On and around January 6, 2021, the platform garnered widespread attention. Live footage from Trump supporters storming the Capitol building was shared on Parler and instantly went viral.