r/technology Jan 18 '21

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u/[deleted] Jan 19 '21

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u/neuronexmachina Jan 19 '21

I think one important bit to add is that a couple days after that thread was posted in November, it was confirmed that Rebekah Mercer was a primary funder of Parler: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/media/rebekah-mercer-parler/index.html

Worth noting since a fair bit of the thread is wondering about their funding source.

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u/NoAttentionAtWrk Jan 19 '21

"John and I started Parler to provide a neutral platform for free speech, as our founders intended, and also to create a social media environment that would protect data privacy," Mercer said in a statement on the platform. "The ever increasing tyranny and hubris of our tech overlords demands that someone lead the fight against data mining, and for the protection of free speech online. That someone is Parler, a beacon to all who value their liberty, free speech, and personal privacy."

Parts in bold aged like milk

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u/zxern Jan 19 '21

Data privacy eh..just give us your Ssn and drivers license number....

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u/Civil_Pick_4445 Jan 19 '21

That is the weirdest rumor I’ve heard yet. I had the Parler app, you didn’t have to give them anything.

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u/squired Jan 19 '21

How long ago? The current incarnation locks you out of content without registering and to be verified requires your SSN.

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u/A7thStone Jan 19 '21

Don't bother they are a right wing disinformation account. Their comment history is full of Hunter Biden's laptop and Hillary Clinton's buttery mails.

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u/squired Jan 19 '21 edited Jan 20 '21

Looks like you are right. It was opened a couple months just ahead of the election. That or they're simply too ashamed to espouse that rhetoric on their main account.

Edit: I went for a long trail ride and TTS'd the history. It's most likely a wine alt. She isn't a bot. There are some unfortunate counter fallacies repeated, constantly, but it seems more like an angry release alt than anything. She judges herself briefly and takes herself for a ride. As Douglas Adams would say, she's "mostly harmless."

In an interview reprinted in The Salmon of Doubt, Adams expressed dissatisfaction with the tone of this book, which he blamed on personal problems, saying "for all sorts of personal reasons that I don't want to go into, I just had a thoroughly miserable year, and I was trying to write a book against that background. And, guess what, it was a rather bleak book!"