Parler and the Trump Organization, negotiating on behalf of Former President Donald Trump, had talks that would have offered Trump's business a significant share in Parler in return for the president, making it his go-to social media site.
Parler offered Trump's company a 40% share
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: A general view of the Parler app displayed on an iPhone on January 9, 2021 in London, England. The Parler App popular with right-wing supporters has been suspended from Google's Play store over continued postings by users that incite violence.
BuzzFeed News confirmed that Parler offered Trump a significant stake in the president's platform to have a go-to social media platform.
Parscale and Alex Cannon, a counsel for the campaign, met with Parler's then-CEO, John Matze, and donors Dan Bongino and Jeffrey Wernick after former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale raised the proposal to Trump last year.
According to Business Insider, Parler has offered a 40 percent stake to Trump's company, doled out over two years. In return, it urged Trump to post on Parler four hours before reposting his content on other sites while still linking back to Parler.
According to the report, after Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, Parler and the Trump Organization's talks, which started last summer, were revisited. However, it eventually failed. It was not clear how interested Trump was in the negotiations.
Trump's massive corporate empire and his inability to detach himself from it as president raised widespread questions about whether he exploited the office to enrich himself.
But the agreement with Parler would break anti-bribery rules because, in return for Parler having a say on where Trump will make his official statements, Trump would have gotten something of value, ethics analysts told BuzzFeed News.
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Parler became famous among Trump supporters
Due to its loose approach to moderating content, Parler quickly gained popularity among Trump supporters and far-right leaders in November following the election. Still, Trump never made a verified account there.
The company faced immediate outrage over that approach following the Capitol attacks, which rioters organized in large part on Parler.
Apple and Google banned the app from their app stores, and Amazon cut off Parler's web-hosting services, taking the site offline. Parler has consistently failed to delete violent content or change its moderation approach to be under their policies, the companies said.
Read also: Trump to Go Back to Facebook; Some Juries Might Not Let Him
Parler as "unbiased social media"
Right-wing commentators, including those who were banned from Twitter and Facebook, drew activity from Parler. The social media platform described itself as "unbiased social media," before it was taken offline, CNET reported.
Trump's presidency put social media in the spotlight. On Facebook and Twitter, he had millions of followers and used the sites to share remarks, official statements, and baseless allegations that the election was stolen from him.
Facebook suspended Trump indefinitely following the January 6 insurrection, where a group of Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol. And, Twitter permanently barred his account.
Parler and the Trump Company, which oversees Trump's corporate activities, have not responded to requests for comment immediately.
