The conservative alternatives to Twitter praised Elon Musk after he finalized his purchase of the social platform.
Parler, Gettr, and Truth Social are all social networks presenting as free-speech-focused alternatives to Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Several of these companies have voiced their support for Musk’s decision to buy Twitter for $44 billion and his willingness to change the company’s content moderation and censorship policies.
“Parler welcomes Twitter as an ally in the fight to reclaim the Internet for free thought and expression,” Amy Peikoff, Parler’s chief policy officer, told the Washington Examiner. “The fact that Musk found it necessary, at the price of $44 billion, to purchase Twitter is proof-of-concept for what we at Parler have offered all along.”
MUSK PROPOSES COUNCIL TO OVERSEE CONTENT MODERATION DECISIONS AT TWITTER
While Peikoff praised the platform’s decision regarding content moderation, she said she was uncertain about Musk’s plans for its advertising efforts. “The number of places where content ‘moderation’ is done in service of politically motivated narratives has just decreased by one. That’s great news for everyone. But what Mr. Musk has planned in terms of the privacy of his users is still of concern,” Peikoff said. “More relevant ads, which Musk referred to in his statement to advertisers, always means more data collection and profiling. And given today’s law, that means more data accessible by the government without a warrant. Perhaps Mr. Musk would be willing to challenge decades of bad legal precedent as well?”
Former President Donald Trump echoed Peikoff’s praises. “I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country. Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly. It will be much smaller but better,” the former president said on his social platform, Truth Social. While many Trump supporters were hopeful that the former president would be allowed back on Twitter after his permanent ban from the platform, Trump said he would stick with posting on his platform rather than return to Twitter.
GETTR’s team was more skeptical about the company’s future. “Make no mistake, even with business mogul Elon Musk at the helm of failing Twitter, the product is fundamentally broken,” GETTR CEO Jason Miller said in a statement. “Musk has made it crystal clear that the product he is being forced into purchasing is something he does not believe in. Twitter has failed to create exciting new features, it is riddled with bot accounts, and it continues to discriminate politically — which is not likely to change even with new leadership. The overall user experience on Twitter has sunk to new depths, and it isn’t coming back anytime soon — Twitter’s glory days are over.”
Musk acquired Twitter on Thursday after months of legal tension. He fired multiple executives Thursday night and is acting as the company’s CEO for the time being. While some conservatives praised Musk’s purchase, some liberal Twitter accounts were debating whether to leave the platform. Several Chinese officials have also pushed Musk to remove labels identifying them as affiliated with the Chinese state.
Musk announced on Friday that he was implementing a council to oversee all content moderation decisions and would not change the company’s content moderation policies until the council was formed.
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Parler is scheduled to be acquired by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The purchase was inspired by West’s recent suspension from Twitter and Instagram, although the rapper had his Twitter account reinstated as of Friday.
