Tech

Is Parler censoring a pro-Trump hashtag started by Roger Stone?

Parler described it as a ‘glitch.’

Photo of Zachary Petrizzo

Zachary Petrizzo

Parler logo over 'no' symbol background

Parler, the right-wing, “free-speech” Twitter alternative, on Tuesday was (yet again) accused of censoring content they don’t like.

Featured Video

This time it was the pro-President Donald Trump hashtag “#WriteInTrumpForGA” on the site that allegedly got the ax, which encouraged write-ins for Trump in the U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia.

The hashtag stems from the campaign of right-wing provocateur Roger Stone’s Super PAC, The Committee for American Sovereignty, which is calling to “Hack the Runoff” and write-in Trump in the Georgia runoff.

“The Parler admins appear to be censoring the #WriteInTrumpForGA hashtag… DISGRACEFUL!” Twitter personality William LeGate tweeted, mocking the site, which bills itself as a bastion of free speech.

Advertisement
In Body Image
Screenshot via Twitter

Following the hashtag apparently being taken down, as of Tuesday afternoon, the Daily Dot found the tag had re-populated, with at least 197 posts mentioning “#WriteInTrumpForGA.”

Most of those posting “Parleys” were frustrated and accused the social media platform of squelching their free speech.

“Parler is censoring the #WriteInTrumpForGA hashtag,” one Parler user wrote.

Advertisement
In Body Image
Screenshot via Parler

A request for comment to Parler from the Daily Dot went unreturned regarding the matter.

Parler policy employee Amy Peikoff responded to the apparent censoring of the hashtag, claiming there might have been a “glitch.”

In Body Image
Screenshot via Parler
Advertisement

“This is false, as evidenced by the fact that this post showed up when I searched for the tag. There may be a glitch, or a delay of some kind, because the initial screen summarizing the results showed ‘1 post,’ and then when you click on that, you see a whole bunch,” she wrote on the platform.

Yet, the censorship behavior from the “free-speech” platform doesn’t begin there. When people pivoted to the site, they realized it was free speech in name only, with strict terms of use.

NBC News reporter Ben Collins earlier this week described the up-and-coming conservative platform as a “free speech platform in racism only.”


Advertisement

More election 2020 coverage

In Body Image
Trump supporters are already trying to blame antifa for their Capitol riot
Twitter users gush over the possibility of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
White nationalist Zoomer Nick Fuentes floats the idea of killing legislators who certified Biden’s win
How Trump’s new favorite network botched its big China-election scoop
How a rumored QAnon poster got an election fraud conspiracy to Trump’s Twitter

Advertisement
 
The Daily Dot