As Twitter and Facebook crack down on conservative pundits and anti-vaxxers, Parler has secured $20 million in new funding.
As Twitter ( (TWTR) – Get Twitter, Inc. Report) and Facebook (Meta) crack down on far-right pundits like Marjorie Taylor Greene, conservative app Parler has secured $20 million in new funding.
According to a Securities Exchange & Commission filing first dug up by Axios, Parler reported the new funds on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on Washington.
Founded in 2018 with a model very similar to Twitter, Parler is often touted by conservatives as a “freer” alternative to traditional platforms with more stringent rules against discrimination and promotion of violence. It was touted by former President Donald Trump and used by many who participated in the insurrection.
Republican heiress Rebekah Mercer is the app’s primary investor and a co-founder. Others include Fox News contributor Dan Bongino and bitcoin investor Jeffrey Wernick, but the filing does not make clear who led or contributed to the latest round.
Seth Dillon, CEO of right-wing parody site The Babylon Bee, was newly listed among the directors.
Last May, Parler named British conservative British George Farmer (his wife is right-wing author Candace Owens) as its new CEO after the app was temporarily banned from the Apple ( (AAPL) – Get Apple Inc. Report) store.
Farmer has recently given a series of interviews about fighting “big tech” and charting a new course for the company. Critics see the platform as a knee-jerk conservative response to social media platforms banning the most egregious violations.
“I have worked with an incredible team of people, under the leadership of Mark Meckler, to bring Parler back online and return to Apple’s App Store after we had been unfairly maligned by the media and its allies in Big Tech and Congress,” Farmer told the WSJ.
