Trump Allegedly Demanded Parler Kick Off His Critics If It Wanted Him On The Platform

from the so-free-speechy dept

There has been a lot of speculation regarding whether or not Donald Trump would set up his own social network or if he'd just join one of the struggling social networks which only seem to exist in order to cater to Trump's most fervent supporters. Parler, obviously, gets a lot of attention and earlier this year there were reports that, while Trump was still President, he had entered into negotiations to take an equity stake in Parler and then embrace the platform as his preferred social network. As we noted back then, "for whatever reasons, the agreement did not materialize."

A new book by Michael Wolff suggests one possible reason. It claims that Trump demanded that Parler had to block Trump's critics from its platform:

One curious point of consideration for the [Trump] family [the morning of January 6th] — prescient of the events that would shortly unfold — was a follow-up to a discussion initiated some months before by aides and family. Trump representatives, working with Trump-family members, had approached Parler, the social network backed by Bob Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, far-right exponents and large Trump contributors. They had floated a proposition that Trump, after he left office, become an active member of Parler, moving much of his social-media activity there from Twitter. In return, Trump would receive 40 percent of Parler’s gross revenues and the service would ban anyone who spoke negatively about him.

Parler was balking only at this last condition.

Of course, this is absolutely hilarious for so many reasons. For years, Trump has been whining about how social media shouldn't be allowed to ban him and his friends, and couched it in (false) claims of supporting "free speech." Yet, here he was apparently making it clear that he not only wanted active content moderation on Parler, but that the moderation had to be directed at anyone who criticized him.

How very free speechy of him.

Of course, if Parler decided it did want to do this, it could. The 1st Amendment would protect such a decision, and with it, Section 230 would protect it from being sued for such decisions.

I do wonder if this was some kind of reaction to the Knight Institute case that established that, while he was President, Trump couldn't block followers from accounts he used for conducting official Presidential business. You could see how he (and his associates) might think that a neat workaround to this 1st Amendment conundrum would be an agreement to have the platform do the blocking instead (of course, if Trump were still President, that would present another set of 1st Amendment issues, but thankfully we don't have to deal with those now).

I am, however, quite excited to see what the crew of Trump-loving folks who show up in our comments think about this. After all, they regularly insist that they really just want social media companies to never ban anyone.

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Filed Under: banning critics, content moderation, donald trump, ideological bias, section 230, social media
Companies: parler


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  • icon
    Greg Glockner (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 12:21pm

    Silly Techdirt, freedom of speech only applies to my speech, not the other guy. #sarcasm

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 1:18am

      Re:

      Trump: "Stop the censorship! First Amendment! I have a right to speak!"

      Also Trump: "Kick those critics off the platform if you want me around!"

      Yet as usual Trump cultists will leap to the defense of Dear Leader because the image of the deific superman they envision him as in that world of their own they live in is impervious to factual reality.

      P.T Barnum must be rolling in envy in his grave. Imagine a third-rate grifter and con man ending up with a 70 million strong base blindly devoted to his every whim...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 12:22pm

    I am, however, quite excited to see what the crew of Trump-loving folks who show up in our comments think about this. After all, they regularly insist that they really just want social media companies to never ban anyone.

    Another easy one Mike, they will insist that this is all just "fake news" and Trump never said anything like that.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 2:22pm

      Re:

      Scrolling down just a few comments and yup, that's exactly the excuse that was used, 'fake news!'

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 2:47pm

        Re: Re:

        that's exactly the excuse that was used

        LOL, and out of everybody who could have said it, of course it was Koby.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    iSights (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 12:35pm

    Fake News! Liberal Bias! Hearsay! Slander! Oh, and Fake NEWS!

    (Did I do it right?)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Baron von Robber, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:13pm

      Re:

      Only if you raised a fist and then put it down to continue to walk on your knuckles.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        David, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:37pm

        Re: Re:

        Wouldn't that interfere with crawling?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Darkness Of Course (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:54pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          What about slithering. Or sleazing, which was He Who Lost former mode of travel when he was nothing but a slumlord.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 5 Jul 2021 @ 5:38am

      Re:

      For the proper tone you may want to drop the original version of "Fake news" - Lügenpresse! in there somewhere as quite a few of the Trump cult do. What was good enough for the german national socialists in 1933 turned out to be equally good for the alt-right of today.

      I wish this was just hyperbole rather than wording actually dropped by alt-righters on these boards.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Stephen T. Stone (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 12:42pm

    Right-wing social media has too much of an anti-liberal bias. Surely there must be some law we can enact to take care of this issue. An equality declaration of some sort, a doctrine dedicated to allowing the fair and equitable expression of opposing ideas, could handle that.

    …or we could all come to our fucking senses and laugh at Trump for being such a basic bitch that he can’t handle even the mildest criticism of his bullshit.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:20pm

      Re:

      A fragile ego is a common trait of dictators and wannabe dictators throughout history.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:19pm

    More proof that ALL speech should be heard, with individuals able to filter out (or in) what they prefer.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    David, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:31pm

    Great minds think alike

    "I strongly disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death my right to shut you up."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    icon
    Koby (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:44pm

    He Wouldn't Fake It Again, Would He?

    It looks like this is the same Michael Wolf who claimed in a past book that Mueller drafted a 3 count indictment against Trump that was just sitting on his desk waiting to be signed. The the story was so fake that the special council's office had to come out with a denial and that it was just Fake News. This guy will dream up anything to get suckers to buy his newest book. But I gotta give him credit tho. He's found a LOT of suckers!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Stephen T. Stone (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:50pm

      You’d believe Trump if he said he sucked off Bigfoot, wouldn’t you?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 2:04pm

      Re: He Wouldn't Fake It Again, Would He?

      Go ahead, say Fake again :p

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2021 @ 2:52pm

      Re: He Wouldn't Fake It Again, Would He?

      “But I gotta give him credit tho. He's found a LOT of suckers!”

      You ain’t wrong bro...

      oh you didn’t mean Trump...

      how awkward, for you.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Glen, 1 Jul 2021 @ 8:49pm

      Re: He Wouldn't Fake It Again, Would He?

      God, you are such a predictable moron.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      techflaws (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 3:58am

      Re: He Wouldn't Fake It Again, Would He?

      He's found a LOT of suckers!

      Like... about 70 million?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Pixelation, 1 Jul 2021 @ 1:50pm

    Trump is a hypocrite? Say it isn't so!
    Truly shocking.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 1 Jul 2021 @ 5:18pm

    Skin so very very thin...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    icon
    Cynebald (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 9:39am

    “Allegedly”….

    Trump is an ass but this article is so biased to be nothing but propaganda. Allegedly he was also a Russian spy, dictator, fascist, etc. How many “Allegedly” stories is the left going to get excited about only to then ignore the retractions or corrections months/years later, while ignoring the proven Biden/Harris scandals.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2021 @ 10:43am

      Re:

      nothing but propaganda

      propaganda for what.... exactly?

      ignore the retractions or corrections months/years later

      Please point me to all these retractions you speak of.

      the proven Biden/Harris scandals

      Which are what..... exactly?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Stephen T. Stone (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 10:57am

      Trump is an ass

      You should’ve stopped right there…

      but

      …before you exposed an asshole.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      techflaws (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 11:14am

      Re:

      So, when is Hillary getting locked up?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Toom1275 (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 12:09pm

      Re:

      this article is so biased to be nothing but propaganda.

      [Projects facts not in evidence]

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Toom1275 (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 12:10pm

      Re:

      As is typical of right-wing sheep, you obviously lack any grasp of the concept of proof.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Rocky, 2 Jul 2021 @ 1:02pm

      Re:

      So when Trump does something questionable he's just an ass, but when Harris or Biden also does something questionable it's a scandal? If you want, I can provide a list of every publicly known "scandal" for both Trump, Biden and Harris. One of the three have a very long list of "scandals" (and lawsuits) spanning at least 40 years, the other two not so much.

      One of the most glaring things you people ignore is Trump's documented pattern of sexual misconduct where he even have bragged about it in some instances, but you have no problems condemning Biden's alleged inappropriate behavior towards a handful of women. I've never heard Biden loudly proclaim "I just start kissing them, I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

      Considering what Trump did to his critics on Twitter before the Knights First Amendment lawsuit, this story is more likely than unlikely.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Samuel Abram (profile), 2 Jul 2021 @ 3:47pm

      Re:

      Allegedly he was also a…fascist…

      He was. Or did we all collectively imagine what happened on January 6, 2021 like the Mandela effect?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2021 @ 10:42pm

      Re: That’s dedication.

      Wow you went and made an entire profile just so people could line up to kick you in the dick.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 5 Jul 2021 @ 12:26am

        Re: Re: That’s dedication.

        Yeah, it looks like Baghdad Bob has grown tired of posting anonymously so is back to his old games of building spurious accounts in the hope people will take him seriously.

        Even back on Torrentfreak we had to inform him that doesn't work too well, given that what is recognizable isn't the nickname but the particular odor of shit trickling out of it...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 5 Jul 2021 @ 12:41am

      Re:

      "Allegedly he was also a Russian spy..."

      No, proven is only that he was given a 400 million dollar loan with the Russian State Bank standing as guarantor right before he started that "self-funded" presidential campaign of his.
      Man, Vlad is really generous to his friends, isn't he?

      "...dictator..."

      “He’s the head of a country and he’s the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News’s Steve Doocy on the White House lawn Friday. “He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”

      • Trump, right after meeting Kim Jong-Un.

      I guess to a trumpist the fact there's a bullet list of times where Trump unabashedly lauded dictators for being dictatorial isn't enough to show his aspirations. This from the people who thought Obama wearing a Tan suit was beyond the pale.

      "...fascist..."

      OK, there you have a point, according to experts;

      "Roger Griffin, the author of The Nature of Fascism and a professor of history at Oxford Brookes University, summed it up well: “You can be a total xenophobic racist male chauvinist bastard and still not be a fascist.”"

      The problem you alt-right asshats seem to have is that The Donald himself was all too keen to turn "allegations" into actual confessions. All the kings horses and all the king's men couldn't keep Trump from being openly green with envy on twitter while he was brown-nosing up to Vlad and Kim Jong-Un.

      To the alt-right, reality is now apparently "leftist". Seriously, Baghdad Bob, at some point you ought to realize that when all you've got is nonsense of this caliber, no one reacts to it in any other way than pointing and laughing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Jul 2021 @ 10:56pm

    “Allegedly”….

    Trump is an ass but this article is so biased to be nothing but propaganda. Allegedly he was also a Russian spy, dictator, fascist, etc. How many “Allegedly” stories is the left going to get excited about only to then ignore the retractions or corrections months/years later, while ignoring the proven Biden/Harris scandals.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    icon
    Chozen (profile), 7 Jul 2021 @ 8:50am

    Sourc

    Do you have a source more credible than Micheal Wolff. Even the NYT wasn't buying Wolf's fantasies in "Fire and Furry"

    "“I believe parts of it, and then there are other parts that are factually wrong ... “He believes in larger truths and narratives. So he creates a narrative that is notionally true, that’s conceptually true. The details are often wrong.” ~NYT Maggie Haberman

    So even someone as left wing admits that Wolf tends to create narratives that are factually untrue.

    Wolf is one of those 'fake but true' kind of scum.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mart, 22 Jul 2021 @ 4:56am

    Bruner

    Hello

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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