Minneapolis’ political comedian Corey Adam Dum joined a mass social media switcher last week.
This was at a time when Mr. Adam, 39, was looking at Twitter and Facebook, adding labels to social media posts from President Trump and other Republicans who falsely claimed he had won the election. Many labels said the claim was disputed. And on Twitter, some of Mr. Trump’s tweets were completely hidden.
Through Mr. Adam, social media companies were singing the tune of Rs. So he decided to move to the parlor, a social networking app that had been on and off for a year, and to skip those two big platforms, he said.
Adams said, “Facebook started muting, deleting and labeling every political post in my feed. “If you are going to do something, you have to be fair on both sides. You don’t have to pick just one side to promote. “
Mr. Adam was one of the millions who have migrated from Facebook and Twitter since the election. As companies have been plagued by misinformation, they have clashed with Republicans and conservatives who have spread lies about the election results, claiming that tech platforms are censoring them.
Mark Levine, one of the far-right radio hosts with millions of listeners, gave a chance at his show last week that tech and media companies were not representing a Rs. Fox News anchor Maria Bertiromo also took to Twitter to express her frustration, saying she was blocking statements from people who have been serviced.
But Mr. Levin, Ms. Bartimo and others did not stop there. He directed his followers to other social media apps and news sites that have positioned themselves as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter. Beneficiaries are Parlor, a Twitter-like application that describes itself as the world’s “premier free speech social network,” the right-wing media app Newsmax and other social sites such as Mave and Ramble, which have purposefully welcomed Rs.
Over the weekend, Apple went to the top of Paul’s App Store in parlor downloads. As of Monday, it had eight million members, up from its nearly 4.5 million double last week. Rumble said it will see a video on its site of 75 million to 90 million people this month, up from 60.5 million last month. And Newsmax said more than 3 million people have seen its election night coverage and its app is among the top-10 daily apps recently downloaded from Apple’s App Store.
While social media sites that have been sold for over Rs. Now their connection could increase the fragmentation of the information ecosystem.
“There are real dangers around a fractured misinformation system, especially because it concerns planning against the integrity of our election,” said Shannon McGregor, a professor at Information University, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina and senior researcher at Information, Technol. “And public life.
But Ms. McGregor said he doubted any migration would lead to a permanent departure from Facebook and Twitter. “If there is no one to argue, no omnipresent journalists or media entities to respond, how long will it last?” She said.
Facebook and Twitter declined to comment. Companies refuse to censor Rs servists and usually pay attention to their terms of service when breaking account rules. And while many self-employed people are annoyed with their content being labeled or hidden, they are no less willing to accept that their posts can often collide with obscure and harmful content with Facebook’s guidelines.
Next week, Twitter’s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, and Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, are due to testify at a congressional hearing on the treatment of an unrelated article in the New York Post through their sites, which criticized the president’s son, Hunter Biden. Elected Joseph R. Biden Jr.. The hearing was called by Republicans, who were outraged that the sites initially limited the distribution of the article.
Despite all this nonsense, Facebook and Twitter have long adopted a mostly hands-on approach to digital speech. In recent months, however, companies have stepped up their efforts to prevent election misinformation. Facebook and Twitter said they would label the wrong posts and slow down how quickly they could be shared among other moves. They said many of the changes would be temporary.
Facebook and Twitter began using those many measures last week after the polls closed. When Mr. Trump posted that the election was being stolen from him, the companies labeled his messages. Also on Thursday, Facebook took down the fast-growing Facebook group, Stop the Steel, which promotes the idea of rigged elections.
From which Mr. People like Adam are motivated to switch to alternative applications like Parlor, part of which is owned by part-time media personality Dan Bongino. Founded in 2018 by two Nevada-based software engineers, John Metz and Jared Thomson, the parlor – named after the French word meaning “speak” – has said it is a free speech platform in which people post There is a very loose guide around it. On site.
At the parlor, users can view posts about MAGA fodder and quinine, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory that insists some top Democrats are devilish pedophiles. There are plenty of anti-Semitic principles. Donald Trump Jr., Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and Rudolf W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, all have parlor accounts.
“The parlor is a breath of fresh air for those who are wary of our boredom and the way our competitors treat them,” Jeffrey Wernick, chief operating officer of the parlor, said in a statement. “Our growth is not attributed to any one individual or group, but rather to the parlor’s efforts to earn the trust of our community.”
The parlor’s recent growth has been so surprising that thousands of users have complained about how difficult it was to sign up because of the logjam of people creating new accounts. Mr Matze said in a letter to the parlor community on Tuesday that the rush “strained the capacity of our network and caused some interruptions and delays,” but that the site was correcting problems.
Some new parlor users said the site is an alternative to extreme platforms like Gabe, another social media site that has been a haven for racist memes and content. “Jesus is King, speak freely on Gabe.com,” Andrew Torba, Gabe’s founder and chief executive, said in an email. He also sent out a link noting that Gabe recorded record user growth last week.
Others gravitated to the video site Ramble, founded in 2013, which has emerged as the iconic YouTube. Rumble makes money in a variety of ways, including running ads and selling its technology.
Chris Pavlovsky, founder and chief executive of Rumble, said the site had been on a “rocket ship” of growth since the summer – and even after the election. He said Republican Devin Nunes of California, and Mr. Bongi are on the ramble and they have seen their audience expand rapidly on the site.
Mr Pavlovsky added that Rumble prohibits explicit material, terrorist propaganda and harassment. But he said he was mostly not in the business of sorting out misinformation or stopping speech.
“I don’t want to sit here and have the ability to know what the truth is or how to do it.” On other platforms, he added, “People are no longer allowed to discuss.”
Many have also demanded front-right news publications. Founded in 1998 by Christopher Ruddy, an avid journalist, it has been a boon to the right-wing news website and television channel Newsmax. Last week, Newsmax got the steam after Fox News called Arizona a swing state in favor of Mr. Biden, besieging Mr. Trump’s base. (The New York Times did not call Arizona in favor of either candidate.)
Melissa Zepeda, a 32-year-old Republican and registered nurse in Northern Mississippi, said she and several of her colleagues recently moved to Fox News’ Newsmax after she “showed favoritism.” Newsmax has not called an election in favor of Mr. Biden, one of the few news outlets to do so.
“So far, I like that it’s biased, and covers a variety of elections, not just elections,” Ms. Zepeda said.
Mr. Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax and a confidant of Mr. Trump, said viewers and social media interactions with his site have increased. He said the increase was partial. It was done by people who were looking for a place to express their views, he said. He added that it is important for publishers to have ideological diversity.
“There’s a generous eco chamber that’s very large,” he said. “The Conservatives just have fewer options, but if they find them, they’re there.”
It would be too early to know whether a broad, permanent shift away from major outlets, especially given the reach of Facebook, Twitter and Fox News. While the threat of mass migration away from mainstream apps and news has come from time to time, people still seem to be returning to the biggest platforms.
Long time Facebook user Ms. Zepada said she maintains her Facebook account to maintain access to pictures uploaded over the years. But she expects to leave the social network as a daily destination, to join several Facebook groups planning a “Facebook Mass Exit on Parlor and Mavi” scheduled for Friday.
“I’m fed up with the bias towards Democrats and Liberals,” he said.
