'Free speech' upstart Parler attracting conservatives 'sick and tired' of Twitter, Facebook

TORONTO — While Facebook and Twitter have stepped up a war on the spread of misinformation through their platforms, right-leaning voices have been taking up the call for a somewhat upstart social media site that bills itself as a bastion of free speech. Parler, a social media platform launched in 2018, calls itself the “world’s town square” and promises not to fact-check or engage in content moderation, beyond criminal activity and spam. Though much trumpeted by high-profile U.S. conservatives who claim they are victims of censorship on Twitter and Facebook, experts say Parler isn’t likely to gain much widespread traction but could play a role in creating and amplifying campaigns of misinformation, hate and harassment, and conspiracy theories. #TWEXIT Though critics say Twitter and Facebook don’t go far enough, the platforms are increasingly flagging misinformation, hiding mistruths and inaccurate content altogether, and sometimes suspending or banning flagrant rule violators. Just three days after his defeat in the presidential election, U.S. President Donald Trump – a frequent target of Twitter’s warnings about inaccurate information – tweeted that Twitter “was out of control.” Then Republican senators took to publicly grilling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey,  » Read More