Post-election, many conservatives, and some extremists, have been heading to Parler, a conservative social media app funded by Republican megadonor Rebekah Mercer, which bills itself as a free speech Twitter-spin off.
But billionaire Bill Gates isn’t a fan of the platform, calling some of its content “crazy stuff.”
If somebody goes to Parler, they are saying, “I like crazy stuff,” Gates said Tuesday at The New York Times DealBook Summit. “If you want Holocaust denial, hey, Parler is going to be great for you,” Gates said.
(In October, Facebook announced a ban on content denying or distorting the Holocaust, classifying it as hate speech. Parler, however, does not police any content on its platform, so popular but controversial topics that appear on the site include voter fraud, Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic remarks, according to the Anti-Defamation League.)
Parler, which was founded by Mercer, John Matze and Jared Thomson in 2018, was the most downloaded app for both Android and iPhone users during the week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 15, according to SensorTower, a marketing intelligence company that tracks app downloads. For the week starting on Nov. 16, Parler has so far fallen to No. 2 among Android users and No. 11 among iPhone users.
The app has attracted the likes Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and celebrities Kristie Alley and Scott Baio. On Nov. 12, Wired reported that Parler grew from 4.5 million users to more than 8 million, compared to Twitter’s 330 million users and Facebook’s more than 2 billion.
Many high-profile conservatives have been urging their followers to join Parler after Twitter and Facebook have been adding alerts to posts that spread misinformation, including to posts shared by President Donald Trump about election and voter fraud.
Gates, who has been targeted by online anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists (who believe Gates is trying to microchip humans through coronavirus vaccines, an accusation to which there is no truth), said there needs to be regulation to manage misinformation on social media platforms.
“Facebook services are the primary way people access news and they get drawn in to more and more extreme stories, including some of these anti-vaccines or conspiracy things,” Gates said at DealBook.
“So that person who hasn’t started out saying, ‘I want crazy stuff,’ they get drawn down and see things that are very titillating and that is where it is almost a human weakness,” Gates said.
Asking social media platforms to “be the arbiter of all these things is pretty tough,” Gates said. But over the last few months, particularly around medical information, Gates said social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been doing a better job at screening posts and adding labels to misinformation.
“I think we are sort of finding our way, which will be either leave it alone all the time or strict liability, which you know if you got strict liability, it’s not clear that they can even stay in business,” Gates said at DealBook. (Strict liability is a legal construct that holds a party responsible for injuries caused by its actions or products, without the need for negligence or fault.)
Representatives for Parler, Twitter and Facebook did not immediately respond to CNBC Make It’s request for comment.
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Effort to Increases News Flow to Investors via Social Media
ARLINGTON, Va., March 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Edge Total Intelligence Inc. (“edgeTI” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CTRL, OTCQB: UNFYF, FSE: Q5i), is pleased to announce it has engaged Toronto-based marketing firm Outside the Box Capital, the acquired and rebranded firm of former North Equities Corp. to provide marketing services via social media channels to investors.
Outside the Box Capital specializes in social media platforms and will be able to facilitate greater awareness and widespread dissemination of the Company’s news into these channels.
“We strive to support companies with an under told story that are doing something extremely innovative,” said Jason Coles, CEO of Outside the Box Capital. “We are thrilled to be working alongside edgeTI during this exciting time in the AI space. We’ll be introducing edgeTI to a broader audience and getting it the recognition it deserves.”
The initial term of the engagement is 6 months and the agreement may be terminated by either party at any time before 6 months. The Company will pay North Equities a cash fee of $100,000 across the term of services. Per the terms of the contract Outside the Box Capital will not receive any stock nor will the firm conduct or route any trades to any trading firm or desk.
About edgeTI
edgeTI helps customers sustain situational awareness and accelerate data-driven action with its real-time digital operations software, edgeCore™. Global enterprises, service providers, and governments are more profitable when insight and action are united to deliver fluid experiences via the platform’s low-code development capability and composable experiences. With edgeCore, customers improve their margins and agility by rapidly transforming siloed systems and data across evolving, complex situations in business, technology, and cross-domain operations — helping them achieve the impossible.
Website: https://edgeti.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/edgeti
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/edgetechnologies
Twitter: www.twitter.com/edge_suite
For further Information contact:
Nick Brigman
Phone: 888-771-3343
Email: ir@edgeti.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Information and Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “objective”, “ongoing”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.
Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in the Company’s most recent annual management’s discussion and analysis that is available on the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.
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Board members of the Texas Democracy Foundation reportedly voted to put the progressive Texas Observer on hiatus and lay off its 17-person staff following prolonged economic woes and shrinking readership, marking the latest in a brutal series of closures and layoffs rocking the media industry in 2023.
The Texas Observer’s staff, who reportedly heard about the impending layoffs from a Texas Tribune article, writes a letter to the Foundation’s board asking them to reconsider the decision to close the paper and sets up an emergency GoFundMe page in a last ditch effort to find funding.
NPR cancels four podcasts—Invisibilia, Louder Than a Riot, Rough Translation and Everyone and Their Mom—and begins laying off 100 employees as part of a push to reduce a reported budget deficit of $30 million.
NPR affiliate New England Public Media announces it will lay off 17 employees—20% of its staff—by March 31 after facing “serious financial headwinds during the last three years,” New England Public Media management tells Boston public radio.
Sea Coast Media and Gannett, a media conglomerate with hundreds of papers and Sea Coast Media’s parent company, lay off 34 people and close a printing press in Portsmouth, New Hampshire as part of Gannet’s efforts to reduce the number of operating presses and prioritize digital platforms.
Three Alabama newspapers—The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and the Press-Register—become fully digital publications and reportedly lay off 100 people following a prolonged decrease in print paper circulation, Alabama Media Group President Tom Bates told NPR.
New York public radio station WNYC cancels radio show The Takeaway after 15 years on air after the show reportedly became too expensive to produce amid a declining audience—an unspecified number of people are laid off.
News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins publishers, among others, expects to lay off 1,250 people across all businesses by the end of 2023, Chief Executive Robert Thomson reportedly told investors following compounding declines in profit.
The Washington Post stops publishing its video game and kids sections, leaving 20 people unemployed a little over a month after publisher Fred Ryan foreshadowed layoffs in 2023—executive editor Sally Buzbee reportedly tells employees the layoffs were geared toward staying competitive and no more are scheduled.
Vox Media, which owns The Verge, SB Nation and New York Magazine, lays off 133 people—7% of the media conglomerate’s staff— in anticipation of a declining economy, chief executive Jim Bankoff reportedly tells staff.
Entertainment company and fan platform Fandom lays off less than 50 people at affiliated GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic and TV Guide, Variety reports, mere months after Fandom acquired the four outlets, among others, for $55 million.
The Medford, Oregon-based Mail Tribune shuts down their digital publication after hiring difficulties and declining advertising sales, according to publisher and chief executive Steven Saslow—an undisclosed number of people are laid off and severance packages depend on signing a non-disclosure agreement, the Oregonian reports.
NBC News and MSNBC lay off 75 employees as part of a broader corporate reorganization.
Gannett closes a printing press in Greece, New York, as part of an increased focus on online journalism, resulting in the layoffs of 108 people.
Gannett lays off 50 employees at an Indiana printing press to “adapt to industry conditions,” a spokesperson told the Indiana Star—the press remains open and the layoffs aren’t expected to affect newspaper employees.
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