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WASHINGTON: Conservatives backing President Donald Trump’s allegations of election wrongdoing have prompted a migration to alternative social media sites that have refrained from leaking unverified claims.
The change has fueled right-wing favorites like Parler, Newsmax, and Rumble, who have rejected Facebook and Twitter’s approach by tagging and limiting the scope of conspiracy theories.
Founded in 2018, Parler has logged more than 3.3 million downloads from the Apple and Google markets since November 3 to reach 7.3 million installs worldwide, according to market tracker Sensor Tower.
Big gains were also seen for other pro-conservative services like Newsmax, which Trump himself backed, as well as MeWe and Rumble.
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These sites have put on hold Trump’s claims of manipulation of the election results in the states he lost.
While alternative social media has seen short-lived advances in the past, the post-election trend has “reached out to more mainstream conservatives” who are frustrated with large Internet platforms, according to Bret Schafer, a disinformation specialist at the nonprofit Alliance. for Securing Democracy.
“It is not unprecedented to see migrations like these after a crackdown” by the giants of social networks, according to Schafer.
“But this feels a little different.”
Sites like Parler have attracted Republican lawmakers, as well as the Trump campaign, which has used the app for some of its recent remarks.
Fox Business TV host Maria Bartiromo announced in recent days that she would be leaving Twitter, with a tweet that read: “I will post on Parler bc, as you know I will not tolerate censorship.”
Bartiromo and others asked their Twitter followers to migrate to Parler.
SYMBOLIC OR REAL?
“We don’t know if this is a symbolic protest against Twitter and Facebook or if it will be more real and lasting,” said Daniel Kreiss, a professor specializing in politics and social media at the Information Center at the University of North Carolina. , Technology and Public Life.
“But the dynamic is clear: Conservatives are upset by the moderation of content, particularly against the president.”
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Kreiss added that because mainstream platforms had been unevenly enforcing their policies and only recently began aggressive restraint, “there is a fair conservative complaint about why they are doing this now.”
Parler has been at the top of the download charts of online marketplaces.
“Canceling culture has no place here,” said an App Store reviewer using the name Minishrink. “Either you believe in those who will try to silence the majority or you believe in free speech, true freedom of speech. If you believe the first amendment, this is THE APP FOR YOU.”
As they have become increasingly important to the political conversation, Twitter and Facebook have fought against manipulation and misinformation, while at the same time seeking to keep their platforms open to a variety of viewpoints.
But Schafer said alternative sites have become “filter bubbles” for conservatives, and their hands-off approach could potentially allow incitement to violence.
Parler and similar sites have become a magnet for racist and anti-Semitic tropes along with groups that have been banned from other platforms for posting hateful content or promoting violence.
“They can become toxic places,” Schafer said. “We have seen this movie before.”
ERODING “SHARED CONVERSATION”
Schafer said the growth of fringe networks, whether on the right or left, suggests further fragmentation of the internet, which he said is “not a good thing for civic discourse.”
Kreiss noted that the division threatens “to erode the shared conversation” on public issues that are important to democracy.
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“It makes solving our collective crises that much more difficult,” he said.
Still, few believe that these services are likely to have a major impact on the large platforms that dominate the online space.
“Alternative” social media sites have little content other than the latest election complaints, and they don’t seem to be attracting enough users and advertisers to create a sustainable business model.
While many conservatives are joining Parler, “I have not seen them stop using Twitter,” Kreiss said. “They need to go where the audience is.”
