Kanye West agrees to buy social media platform Parler, company says

Rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, has agreed to purchase social media platform Parler, the network’s parent company said Monday.

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According to The New York Times and The Associated Press, Parlement Technologies announced in a news release that it “has entered into an agreement in principle” to sell Parler, which has gained popularity with right-wing audiences, to Ye in a deal expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2022.

“The terms of the proposed transaction would include ongoing technical support from Parlement and the use of private cloud services via Parlement’s private cloud and data center infrastructure,” said the release, which did not reveal any further details about the agreement.

The news comes a week after Ye’s Instagram and Twitter accounts were locked after the “Stronger” rapper posted antisemitic comments, the news outlets reported.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial, we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Ye, 45, said in a statement about the Parler deal.

Apple and Google removed Parler from their app stores after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, alleging the social media site didn’t properly moderate its users’ posts, according to the AP and the Times. Parler returned to the Apple app store in April 2021 and to Google Play last month, the news outlets reported.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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