- Many far-right personalities, including members of Generation Identity or the National Rally, have recently joined the social network Parler.
- This platform, which is positioned as an alternative to Twitter, guarantees its users "almost total freedom of expression".
- Racist, anti-Semitic, conspiratorial remarks… The social network is in fact the refuge of the far right, and of Twitter pariahs.
It is the new favorite platform of the fascosphere. Several personalities close to the far right recently joined the social network Parler, which is positioned as an alternative to Twitter. "Read News, Speak Free" ("Read News, Speak Free") argues this new American microblogging network which says it wants to promote "freedom of expression" and fight against "technofascism".
The former member of the National Front Marion Maréchal Le Pen has also promoted it this week. “To bypass the censorship of Twitter, a lot of users are signing up to the talking.com social network. You can find me there! ", Writes the director of Issep, asking her followers to join her on this platform founded in August 2018 by the American businessman John Matze.
📲 To bypass Twitter censorship, many users register on the social network https://t.co/R2DPZJSMoH. You can find me there as well as @ ISSEP_Lyon!
To follow me https://t.co/5zuOgU43SX
To follow the ISSEP https://t.co/kc5XcSJvmC See you soon
! pic.twitter.com/NS0TsMHi14
"It's about anticipating a possible complete censorship of Twitter"
Driven from large platforms, several personalities linked to the far right have decided for a few weeks to "take refuge" there. Like several executives of the small group Generation Identity, banned a few days ago from the Twitter platform, which has decided to strengthen its rules in moderation concerning hateful content online. Group leaders, including Thais d'Escufon, have publicly announced that they have migrated to this platform.
There is also the MEP of the National Rally Jérôme Rivière, the party executive Jean Messiah, or the communicator close to Generation Identity Damien Rieu. "It is a question of anticipating a possible complete censorship of Twitter within a few years" and therefore "to invest in new networks as we have always done to overcome the rejection of the mainstream media against us", indicates Erik Tegnér, supporter of the union of the rights, excluded from the party of the Republicans, and who recently opened an account.
A kind of cut and paste from Twitter
Accessible on iOS and Android computers and smartphones, Parler is a free platform. It's a kind of cut and paste of Twitter, which now has nearly three million users. To register, it is mandatory to provide an email address, a telephone number and to be over 13 years old. Once the account is created, we subscribe to the users we want to follow, or those suggested by the platform's algorithm. The profile design is very similar to that of Twitter: a thumbnail photo, a banner, a bio, and a follower and account count.
As on other platforms, the application offers a news feed where you can see parley (equivalent to a tweet) published by users. Regarding privacy, the platform explains that it is not possible to create false accounts, multiple accounts and automated accounts, since you have to give your phone number which becomes one of your identifiers.
Incitement to hatred, racism, anti-Semitism ...
The platform, still little known a few weeks ago, is now on the rise. Last June, it was at the top of the most downloaded applications in the “news” category of the App Store and the Google Play Store in the United States. According to Forbes, Talking is even the favorite social network of Donald Trump and the American alt-right. Her campaign team said she was considering setting aside Facebook and Twitter to focus on Speaking, which is supposed to ensure virtually unlimited freedom of expression.
The platform indeed promises its users "almost total freedom of expression". But behind this notion of “freedom of expression” hides in fact an assumed tolerance for racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic remarks, very present on the platform. Jewish, LGBT and African-American communities are regularly the target of hateful and violent speech. The hashtag “deportallmuslimsnow”, which can be translated as “deport all Muslims now”, has for example been widely shared on the platform. Fake news and other conspiracy theories are also very present. Content contrary to the rules of the platform but which does not seem to concern the managers of the social network for the moment ...
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- Fake news
- Social networks
- Racism
- Identity generation
- By the Web
- Far right
- National gathering
- Marion Maréchal-Le Pen