Right-Wing Social App Parler Raises $20M In Funding
01/07/22, 8:53 PM
Money raised
$20 million
Industry
financial services
apps
mobile
media and entertainment
software
The conservative social media platform Parler has raised $20 million in funding, according to an SEC filing that was signed and submitted on January 6, the anniversary of last year’s domestic attack on the Capitol. The app, which claims to have 16 million-plus registered users, describes its mission as one focusing on protecting “against the authoritarian powers of Big Tech, Big Government, and cancel culture.” The app also claims to be nonpartisan, but anti-hate organizations and researchers including the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have observed Parler’s influence in the far-right information ecosystem, from its role in the Capitol insurrection to propagating anti-vaccine misinformation.
Company Info
Additional Info
The conservative social media platform Parler has raised $20 million in funding, according to an SEC filing that was signed and submitted on January 6, the anniversary of last year’s domestic attack on the Capitol. The companies said the app had been used by Trump supporters and other far-right users to call for violence and organize their plans to storm the Capitol. Parler’s then-CEO John Matze posted on his Parler account that we wouldn’t cooperate with the App Store’s demands for the company to submit a content moderation improvement plan. From Parler’s May 2021 return to the App Store until now, the app has been downloaded just 141,000 times, the firm noted. This additional infusion of $20 million could help the app continue building out this filtering technology, which Parler uses in tandem with human moderation. Parler may soon have new competition in TRUTH Social, Trump’s own social network that’s expected to launch on February 21, President’s Day.