Category Archives: Social Media

Parler Temporarily Shuts Down

Social Media, ,

Parler, a social network that was popularized by supporters of former President Donald Trump, has been sold to a buyer that has temporarily shut it down, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Parent company Parliament Technologies Inc. said it has sold Parler to digital-media company Starboard, months after an acquisition agreement with rapper Kanye West fall apart. The platform went offline on Friday while Starboard, which recently changed its name from Olympic Media, developed a plan to launch a revamped version of the site.

“It’s going to take a breath of fresh air,” said Ryan Coyne, chief executive officer and founder of Starboard, which owns conservative-leaning news sites such as American Wire News and BizPac Review.

According to The Wall Street Journal, last year Parliament set out to sell Parler and it wanted to focus on providing cloud and other infrastructure services to online businesses at risk of being forced off the internet for controversial content. In October, Parliament said it entered into an agreement to be bought by Mr. West, who now legally goes by Ye, but the deal ended weeks later, after the rapper ran into financial difficulties.

Engadget reported that months after Ye dropped his bid, Parler has a new owner… and is out of commission for the time being. Starboard, the owner of pro-conservative news outlets like American Wire News, has shut down Parler on a temporary but indefinite basis after completing its acquisition of the social network from Parliament Technologies.

Starboard posted the following on the Parler website (after shutting down Parler itself):

“Alexandria, VA – April 14, 2023 – Starboard (Formerly, Olympic Media) announced today that it has concluded the acquisition of Parler, the world’s pioneering uncancelable free speech platform.

No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more. By refocusing on the cloud and IT infrastructure space George Farmer has done an exceptional job at successfully leading Parliament into a critically important industry where it has already begun to excel.

Starboard is the perfect home for the Parler brand and its longtime loyal users. “Parler’s large user base and additional strategic assets represent an enormous opportunity for Starboard to continue to build aggressively our media and publishing business. The team at Parler has built an exceptional audience and we look forward to integrating that audience across all of our existing platforms.” said Ryan Coyne, CEO of Starboard.

While the Parler app as it currently constituted will be pulled down from operation to undergo a strategic assessment, we at Starboard see tremendous opportunities across multiple sectors to continue to serve marginalized or even outright censored communities – building a home of them away from the ad-hoc regulatory hand of platforms that hate them…”

Personally, I’m not quite sure what to think about Starboard’s announcement about it’s plans for Parler. The company claims to “continue to serve marginalized people”. But I cannot help but wonder if the “marginalized” people will mostly be the same ones who were on Parler before the app was shut down.

Montana Plans To Ban TikTok

Social Media

Lawmakers in Washington are pushing for an outright ban of TikTok on American soil. Montana might beat them to it, The New York Times reported.

The state’s legislature is further along than any other body in the United States to passing a Ban of the popular Chinese-owned video app, which has faced scrutiny for whether it is handling sensitive data about Americans to Beijing. A Montana bill to block the app was introduced in February, and the State Senate approved it last month. The State House, where the bill has a strong chance of passing after two more votes, is scheduled to consider it on Thursday.

According to The New York Times, the proposal has encountered obstacles. A major internet provider said it could not block TikTok in Montana, prompting lawmakers to rewrite the legislation. A trade group funded by Apple and Google, which operate the app stores that would be forbidden to carry the app, also declared that it was impossible for the companies to prevent access to TikTok in a single state.

The New York Times also reported that TikTok has pushed its users to oppose the legislation by calling and emailing Montana’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gianforte said he would “carefully consider any bill the Legislature sends to his desk” and noted that he had already banned TikTok on state devices.

The fight in Montana is a preview of what the United States might confront at a national level if lawmakers or the White House tries to enact a nationwide ban of TikTok. Even if legislation disallowing the app is passed, The New York Times wrote, carrying out a ban is technologically difficult and would invoke companies across the digital economy.

Montana State Representative, Zooey Zephyr, a Democrat, said in an interview that it was possible that TikTok users could disguise their location to maintain access to the app even after a ban, which could also be hard to enforce in border towns where internet connections may involve cellular towers in another state.

NBC News reported that leading human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have long been critical of the Chinese government and its policies. But the groups are lining up against a proposed U.S. TikTok ban, despite the fact that the app’s parent company is Chinese, saying that eliminating a major platform for public expression won’t fix Beijing’s civil rights record or secure American’s privacy.

According to NBC News, the American Civil Liberties Union has used their TikTok account to answer users’ questions about the proposed ban and urged them to reach out to members of Congress to protest HR 1153, a House bill that would impose new restrictions on TikTok and other social media companies around how Americans’ personal data is handled.

In a Pew survey released last week, the largest share, 46%, of young Americans ages 18 to 29 opposed a ban. Just 29% of that demographic said they supported a ban and 24% weren’t sure. By comparison, roughly half of U.S. adults overall said they wanted TikTok banned, with 22% opposed and 28% undecided.

Personally, I don’t use TikTok. However, it is clear that many other people – especially young people – do use it. I was surprised to see that various human rights organizations are in favor of preventing a ban on TikTok, considering that the app is made by a Chinese company.

European Commission Staff Banned From Using TikTok

Social Media,

The European Commission posted a press release titled: “Commission strengthens cybersecurity and suspends the use of TikTok on its corporate devices”. From the press release:

“To increase its cybersecurity, the Commission’s Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the use of the TikTok application on its corporate devices and on personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service. The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission. The security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.

“The measure is in line with Commission strict internal cybersecurity policies for use of mobile devices for work-related communications. It complements long-standing Commission advice to staff to apply best practices when using social media platforms and keep high-level of cyber awareness in their daily work.

“The Commission is committed to ensuring that its staff is well protected against increasing cyber threats and incidents. It is, therefore, our duty to respond as early as possible to potential cyber alerts.

“Today’s suspension is an internal corporate decision which is strictly limited to the use of devices enrolled in its mobile service.”

In an unprecedented move, the European Commission has banned staff from using the Chinese social media app TikTok over security concerns, in the latest example of growing strains between Beijing and the West, Politico reported.

According to Politico, western governments are increasingly alarmed by evidence that Chinese technology companies assist the Communist Party and its intelligence services in gathering vast amounts of data all over the world – with a particular focus on high-value political and security targets.

A senior official told Politico that all staff were ordered on Thursday morning to remove TikTok from their official devices and that they must also remove the app from their personal devices if they have any work-related apps installed.

Alternatively, the staff member can delete work-related apps from their personal phones if they insist on keeping TikTok.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the European Commission has banned its staff from using the TikTok app on their work-issued devices from March 15 because of cybersecurity concerns, widening across the Atlantic a patchwork of bans affecting U.S. officials.

The move, The Wall Street Journal reported, would affect thousands of employees of the European Union’s top executive body, comes as officials in Europe and the U.S. scrutinize TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., over security concerns.

A commission spokeswoman said staff were told to remove TikTok if it was installed on their work devices. Personal devices that have work-related apps, such a a professional email app, were also banned from having TikTok, she said. The decision was made by the commission’s corporate management board.

It is unclear to me why anyone would want to put apps like TikTok onto their work-related devices. The European Commission has the authority to require its staff to remove TikTok (and potentially other social media apps) off of their work-phones. I can see why the Commission is concerned about security risks from apps that typically appear to be entertaining.

TikTok Launches TikTok Trivia

Social Media

TikTok announced TikTok Trivia, which will begin on February 22 through February 26. From the announcement:

…Today, we’re bringing a whole new experience to the TikTok community, with 5-days of interactive TikTok Trivia presented by Lionsgate and John Wick Chapter 4. Starting February 22, you can tune into the official @TikTok account to participate in trivia challenges and interact with host, actor, and TikTok creator James Henry, known for his creative skits and quirky videos.

“Game shows and trivia have bene part of popular culture for years, and I’m thrilled to work with TikTok to bring this engaging entertainment format to TikTok LIVE. TikTok Trivia has the power to bring people together, creating an electrifying atmosphere filled with excitement and a shared set of community,” said James Henry.

“TikTok is a fantastic partner! We have crafted fan-first campaigns with their team since they launched. This time around, we worked closely with them on this first-to-market program that engages and immerses fans and their love of the John Wick franchise and specifically John Wick Chapter 4 – and it became a strategic throughline for our campaign,” said Dani Otero, SVP Global Paid Media & Analytics At Lionsgate.

Here are some things to know about this event:

Anyone 18 years or older in the US can register for TikTok Trivia by clicking on a trivia widget on the For Your feed, searching for #TikTokTrivia, or by going to the @TikTok account to participate in real-time interactive trivia.

Make sure to join the trivia session on time, so you don’t mist out on some fun John Wick questions and teasers, a chance to win a share of the $500k prize pool, and stay tuned after each trivia session for recommendations of entertaining and interactive LIVE creators to check out.

The first three days of trivia will include two sessions per day at 5-7 pm PT/8-9 ET and 6-7 pm PT/9-10 pm ET. Each session will have several rounds of trivia questions where you can select answers from multiple-choice options. For a chance to win a share of the prize money, you need to answer all questions correctly.

The Verge reported that categories for the trivia include lifestyle, beauty, sports, and music, according to TikTok, along with John Wick questions. The event is sponsored by Lionsgate and its upcoming film John Wick: Chapter 4.

According to The Verge, although the trivia series is a step out of TikTok’s usual offerings, the company has been testing and working on different ways it might use the TikTok LIVE feature to generate engagements.

Engadget reported – Perhaps someone at TikTok got really into HQ Trivia at one point – the platform has announced a very similar-sounding live trivia challenge with a $500,000 prize pool.

According to Engadget, there will be several rounds of multiple choice questions. You’ll need to get them all right to have a chance of a winning share of that session’s prize pot. Players who make it to the end will split $100,000.

TikTok Raises Age Requirement For Going LIVE

Social Media

TikTok is updating its livestream system to limit kids from going live and to allow streamers to only reach adults, The Verge reported. According to The Verge, TikTok currently has allowed those 16 and older to stream live. The company is changing that to 18 and older.

TikTok posted news titled: “Enhancing the LIVE community experience with new features, updates, and policies” (On October 17). It includes the following:

The foundation of TikTok is built on community trust and safety. To protect our users and creators and support their well-being, we constantly work to evolve the safeguards we put in place. Today, we’re making additional changes and improvements to help our community have the best experience possible when they use LIVE.

Currently, people must be 16 or over to host a LIVE. From November 23, the minimum age will increase from 16 to 18. As we consider the breadth of our global audience, we already take a graduated approach to the features that our community can access based on their age; younger teens need to be 16 or older to access Direct Messaging and 18 or older to send virtual gifts or access monetization features.

This news might be disappointing to TikTok users who are not yet 18-years-old. They will, eventually, gain access to the LIVE feature when they get older. Waiting two years (or more) for access might seem like a very long time, though.

There is another change TikTok is making that could perhaps have influenced why they are limiting LIVE to those who are 18 or older. From TikTok’s news:

In addition, in the coming weeks, we plan to introduce a new way for creators to choose if they’d prefer to only reach an adult audience in their LIVE. For instance, perhaps a comedy routine is better suited for people over age 18. Or, a host may plan to talk about a difficult live experience and they would feel more comfortable knowing the conversation is limited to adults. We want our community to make the most of the opportunities LIVE can bring without compromising safety. We believe these industry-leading updates can further protect the younger members of our community as they start and build their online presence.

To be clear, it does not sound as though TikTok is expecting people to turn their LIVE into something like OnlyFans. I suspect some people might attempt to do that, though. As such, it makes a lot of sense for TikTok to prevent people under the age of 18 from accessing LIVE, while also giving the adults on TikTok a way to weed out those who are underage from watching their LIVE.

Kanye West To Acquire Parler Platform

Social Media, ,

A press release on prnewswire titled: “Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire Parler Platform”, was posted on today. If you’ve been following the news, it should come as no surprise that Ye decided to buy a social media company.

From the press release:

Parlement Technologies announced today that it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler, the world’s pioneering uncancelable free speech platform to Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). Ye has become the richest Black man in history through music and apparel and is taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech, using his far-reaching talents to further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” says Ye.

The proposed acquisition will assure Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome…

The press release posted a link to where Ye can be found on Parler. I clicked on that link, and my Safari browser said it could not open the page “because the page’s address isn’t valid.” Either Safari doesn’t recognize the Parler website, or the link attached to where you can find Ye on Parler is incorrect or broken.

The press release also says: Under the terms of their agreement in principle, the parties intend to enter into a definitive purchase agreement and expect to close during the fourth quarter of 2022. The terms of the proposed transaction would include ongoing technical support from Parliament and the use of private cloud services via Parliament’s private cloud and data center infrastructure.

Why would Ye want to buy a social media company?

Last week, Kanye West (aka Ye) was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts following a weekend of antisemitic posts. Now, the saga has taken a sharp turn with news that the hip-hop mogul is acquiring the controversial “free speech” social media app Parler, Engadget reported.

According to Engadget, the deal appears to be happening quickly, with the company behind Parler (Parliament technologies) saying that the parties expect to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2022. The acquisition price was not revealed.

Engadget also reported: Shortly after his return to Twitter, West posted an antisemitic message, which was eventually pulled by Twitter. “The account in question has been locked due to a violation of Twitter’s policies,” a spokesperson said at the time. The rapper also shared a screenshot on Instagram with another antisemitic message, and was similarly restricted by that site.

Several sites reporting on the press release have noted that the situation is developing.

I suppose that a person, who has tons of money, and who has been kicked out of two large social media websites, would become very interested in finding one that would accept him. I suppose one way to assure you won’t be removed from that social media site is to buy it.

Texas’ Social Media Law Blocked By 5th Circuit Court

Social Media,

A federal appellate court temporarily halted Texas’ social media law from going into effect Wednesday, while tech trade groups seek review from the Supreme Court – the latest twist in months of legal maneuvers over a statute that could upend the online industry’s business models, Politico reported.

According to Politico, the ruling by the 5th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals gives a brief reprieve to tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google’s YouTube as they seek a Supreme Court decision against H.B. 20, a Texas law that forbids large platforms from “censoring” viewpoints.

The decision marks a small win for tech trade groups NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association. Those groups had sued Texas’ attorney general, contending that the law would infringe on their member companies’ First Amendment protections by forcing them to carry content that violates their own rules.

Politico also wrote that NetChoice and CCIA had requested in a September 29 motion that the 5th Circuit press pause on H.B. 20 while they ask the Supreme Court to take up the underlying case. The trade groups – which represent Facebook, Twitter and Google – are appealing Sept. 16 ruling from the 5th Circuit that upheld the Texas law.

NetChoice wrote the following:

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals approved NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Associations (CCIA)’s unopposed motion to stay Texas HB 20 pending a ruling on a future petition of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court in our case, NetChoice & CCIA v. Paxton.

Now granted, HB 20 will stay enjoined until the case proceeds through the courts.

“Because Texas HB 20 would bury the internet in vile content, we’re relieved that it will remain enjoined until the case can be heard by the Supreme Court,” said Chris Marchese, NetChoice Counsel. “We remain confident that the law will ultimately be struck down as unconstitutional.”…

The Hill reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) touted the law during its signing last year as a way to push back on censorship and social media companies’ attempts to “silence conservative viewpoints”.

The law, H.B. 20, forbids social media companies with more than 50 million monthly users from banning Texas-based users over their political views. Opponents argue that the way the law is crafted could keep companies from being able to remove dangerous posts, such as pro-terrorist content, animal abuse, pornography and hate speech.

Personally, I don’t have much hope that the Supreme Court will do the right thing regarding Texas’ H.B. 20, (given their recent decisions on other important cases). If the Texas’ law prevails, it could make social media even more hostile than it currently is. That could result in people fleeing the big social media sites for smaller, better moderated, nicer ones.