The social media app Parler’s revenues currently stand at $20 million in new funding, a filing with federal securities regulators has revealed.
Touching upon the matter, the news website Axios claimed the developments “matter” because they are “part of a growing effort by conservatives to build their own social media ecosystem”.
The claims come after Parler announced its return in mid-February 2021 following weeks of hiatus, saying it had migrated to the new host SkySilk, which in turn said in a statement that it “advocates the right to private judgment and rejects the role of being the judge, jury, and executioner”.
SkySilk pledged to “support Parler in their efforts to be a nonpartisan Public Square”.
The platform was earlier banned by Apple, Google, and Amazon, citing a lack of moderation after the media claimed Capitol rioters on 6 January used the app to coordinate their actions. The platform’s previous CEO Mark Matze was voted out by the board.
Up until the ban, the company had been enjoying an influx of users frustrated with major social media platforms suspending ex-President Donald Trump’s accounts for "incitement of violence” after the riots.
Capitol Riot
On 6 January 2021, a mob, including scores of Trump supporters, besieged the US Capitol in a bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results, which the 45th president repeatedly denounced as "rigged" and fraudulent.
Crowds stormed the building, vandalising it, and clashed with police. Five people died as a result of the events and dozens more were injured, including at least 138 police officers.
Democratic lawmakers used the events at the Capitol to try to permanently ban Trump from politics by impeaching him for a second time. However, the impeachment trial failed in the Senate in February 2021, when Trump was already out of office.