Why it matters: Many of today’s conservative media moguls are both rich and politically active.
Driving the news: Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on Monday unveiled his plans to acquire Parler, a Twitter-like social media app that has become a haven for conservatives.
- Ye’s purchase of Parler, he said, will ensure people with conservative opinions “have the right to freely express ourselves” online. Ye has toyed with the idea of running for president. The current CEO of Parler is married to Candace Owens, the conservative media personality.
- Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is also expected to dramatically shift the way conservative content is filtered on the app, should the $44 billion deal finally go through in the next few months. Musk in May said he will vote for Republicans.
- Peter Thiel and J.D. Vance’s investment in Rumble, a YouTube alternative for conservatives, has helped the site remain on track to complete its merger to go public via a blank check company. Vance is running for Senate in Ohio.
- Former President Trump’s Truth Social has faced many legal and financial problems in the past few months, but it continues to provide a consistent platform for the former president and his allies to repeat and spread unproven claims that the election was stolen.
Yes, but: The space is becoming more crowded, and several big platforms are now competing for the same type of user.
- Parler, for example, had just 42,000 downloads in the U.S. since finally being made available again in the Google Play Store on Sept. 2, per Apptopia.
What to watch: In addition to social networks, an entire economy — from cloud hosting networks to book publishers — has grown around conservative ideals and free speech absolutism, although not all companies are finding success.
- On Monday, the CEO of a Texas banking startup for conservatives resigned in the wake of a turbulent start, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- Trump’s Truth Social faces a slew of financial and legal issues, including a whistleblower complaint with federal securities regulators.
https://www.axios.com/2022/10/18/conservatives-social-media-kanye-elon-musk