Starboard acquires conservative social media app Parler

Starboard (formerly Olympic Media) has acquired conservative social media app Parler for an undisclosed sum. Parler was forced to go offline in the wake of encouraging violence during the Capitol Hill chaos in the US in January 2021. Google and Apple also removed the platform from their respective app stores for violating their policies. Last year, both the companies allowed Parler to return to the app stores, following improvements the company made to better detect and moderate hate speech. Starboard said that Parler’s large user base and additional strategic assets represent an enormous opportunity for it to continue to build aggressively in our media and publishing business. “The team at Parler has built an exceptional audience and we look forward to integrating that audience across all of our existing platforms.” said Ryan Coyne, CEO of Starboard. Parler app will be pulled down from operation to undergo a strategic assessment, according to the company. “We at Starboard see tremendous opportunities across multiple sectors to continue to serve marginalised or even outright censored communities — even extending beyond domestic politics,” said Starboard. Starboard expects the deal to be accretive by the end of Q2 2023.