Why People Are Leaving Twitter For Parler
The 2020 election has been especially polarizing, with people not only split over the candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump but also over the results of the election. While major news outlets called the election in favor of Biden a few days after the November 3 election, Trump has refused to concede the election and has opened investigations into voter fraud, insisting that he is the true winner of the race.
Trump has taken to Twitter with his claims, as have many of his allies. Many of their tweets have been flagged by the social media platform, like a November 7 tweet from Trump in which he wrote, "THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!" The tweet is accompanied by a message from Twitter that reads, "This claim about election fraud is disputed" and links to several sources that say that claims of widespread voter fraud lack evidence.
Twitter's crackdown on misinformation has many people leaving the platform for a site called Parler.
What is Parler?
Parler, like Twitter, is a microblogging website. While Twitter has been around for over a decade, Parler has only been around for two years and has primarily attracted media personalities and conservative politicians. Parler isn't flagging posts for spreading misinformation, which is making it an attractive alternative for people who are accusing Twitter of censorship. In the past few days, conservatives have flocked to the site, flooding the platform with claims of election fraud. In the week following the election, the app's users nearly doubled from 4.5 million to 8 million.
"In the same way that Fox News found there was a market for journalism with a particular political view, Parler may find that there's particular value for where it is right now," Josh Pasek, an associate professor of political communication at the University of Michigan told NBC News.
Many people are hopeful that Trump will leave Twitter for the newer platform. "TRUMP NEEDS TO GET ACTIVE ON PARLER, THEY WONT CENSOR HIM THERE," tweeted one Trump supporter.