The International Embrace of Parler by Right-Wing and Populist Parties
Author(s):
Social media’s role as an environment for social and political activism has become increasingly significant as right-wing movements have embraced these platforms as a medium for organization. The more extreme of those groups have seen their use of social media platforms curtailed, since the spread of their conspiracy theories and radical speech has prompted companies such as Facebook and Twitter to strike back by removing accounts and content. In the wake of these efforts, far-right groups have moved to other platforms. One new platform that was explicitly tailored to these users was Parler. Over the past year, elected politicians and political candidates from at least 12 different countries (not including the United States) joined Parler. This paper focuses on far-right, nationalist, and right-wing groups, many of which are habitually labeled as populist, and seeks to provide a broad survey of their presence and activity on Parler. The adoption of this platform by members of right-wing political parties, far-right entities, and populist movements around the world holds the potential for increased spread of conspiracy theories within transnational networks of far-right movements should Parler or a similar website re-emerge in the near future.