Parler Returns: Empower Your Voice Today! | Ryan Rhodes DSH #805

Summary

Detailed Summary of "Parler Returns: Empower Your Voice Today!" | Ryan Rhodes DSH #805

Podcast: Digital Social Hour
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Ryan Rhodes, CEO of Parler
Release Date: October 15, 2024

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Introduction

In the October 15, 2024 episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a comprehensive discussion with Ryan Rhodes, the CEO of Parler. The episode, titled "Parler Returns: Empower Your Voice Today!", delves into the resurgence of Parler as a platform committed to free speech, the challenges posed by censorship on mainstream social media, and the broader societal implications of controlling digital dialogue.

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1. Parler's Mission and Vision

Ryan Rhodes opens the conversation by articulating Parler's fundamental mission: to provide an uncensored platform where individuals can engage in open dialogue without the fear of being silenced or removed. He emphasizes the importance of fostering truthful conversations among users globally, free from governmental or institutional suppression.

"For Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue, can talk and have that opportunity without being censored, without being taken offline... because we really want truth."
[00:00]

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2. Recent Events and Community Engagement

Rhodes highlights Parler's active involvement in significant events, such as appearances on the Tucker show and hosting figures like Alex Jones and Roseanne Barr. These engagements have not only increased Parler's visibility but also reinforced its reputation as a hub for unfiltered discourse.

"There's been no lack of content and energy in the crowd... It was really, really fun. Just packed arena."
[01:38]

He mentions that out of 13 events organized, only three remain, indicating a substantial push to expand Parler's community presence.

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3. Censorship on Mainstream Platforms

A substantial portion of the discussion centers on the pervasive censorship practices of major social media companies. Rhodes criticizes these platforms for demonetizing and removing content creators who pursue controversial or truth-seeking topics, thereby stifacing open dialogue.

"So for Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue... because we really want truth."
[02:42]

He provides examples such as RFK's efforts to discuss vaccines during COVID-19 and how mainstream platforms suppressed these conversations, labeling them as misinformation.

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4. Parler's Stand Against Shadow Banning

Rhodes addresses the tactics like shadow banning employed by other platforms, where users' content is subtly suppressed without their knowledge. He asserts that Parler rejects such practices, striving instead for transparency in content moderation.

"Yeah. So they, they, they hate that word because they're like, no, we don't shadow ban. It's very clear, it's very clear why."
[05:58]

He emphasizes Parler's commitment to allowing users to express themselves freely, fostering an environment where authentic conversations can thrive without hidden agendas.

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5. Infrastructure and Independence

A critical aspect of Parler's resilience against censorship lies in its independent infrastructure. Rhodes explains that unlike other platforms reliant on services like AWS—which can de-platform them—Parler operates on its proprietary cloud system, ensuring sustained accessibility for its users.

"We're entirely new. The name may be, this may be the same, but we're a very new company and we're out there doing things differently in a way that we think is going to have a long term sustainability."
[18:35]

This strategic move safeguards Parler from external pressures that could compromise its mission of free speech.

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6. Combating Government and Corporate Collusion

Rhodes argues that the alliance between big tech companies and government entities has led to biased content moderation, often aligning with governmental agendas. He contends that this collusion undermines democratic principles by controlling the narrative and influencing public opinion.

"They've been colluding with the government to do this. So for Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue... because we really want truth."
[04:46]

He further elaborates on instances where political narratives were manipulated, such as the handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which he believes influenced voter behavior through misinformation.

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7. Parler's Content Moderation Policy

While advocating for free speech, Rhodes clarifies that Parler does implement moderation to prevent harmful content. However, unlike other platforms, Parler does not engage in extensive fact-checking or censoring discussions unless they involve illegal activities like child trafficking.

"We are not going to have porn on our platform... Because that is a gateway to the child trafficking and do that."
[11:21]

This balanced approach aims to maintain a safe environment while preserving the integrity of free expression.

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8. Supporting Diverse Political Voices

Rhodes emphasizes that Parler is an inclusive platform welcoming diverse political perspectives, primarily leaning towards the conservative spectrum but open to all viewpoints. He believes that fostering debates between differing opinions is essential for uncovering the truth.

"We invite everybody on our platform to go and share if they think it's mis, if the other side thinks it's misinformation, get out there and argue with the other person."
[25:17]

By encouraging respectful discourse, Parler aims to bridge political divides and promote mutual understanding.

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9. Impact of Censorship on Society and Youth

A significant concern discussed is the impact of censorship on younger generations. Rhodes highlights how the suppression of information during events like the COVID-19 pandemic left individuals without outlets for genuine expression, leading to feelings of alienation and diminished critical thinking.

"If you're not... you have that robot that just gets fed that information, you're not going to think for yourself and you're going to be easy to control."
[27:46]

He advocates for platforms like Parler to provide the necessary tools for youth to engage in meaningful conversations and develop independent thought.

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10. Economic Challenges for Farmers and Global Trade Issues

The conversation shifts to economic struggles faced by farmers, particularly in Iowa, due to international competition and unfair trade practices. Rhodes points out how reliance on foreign fertilizers and tariffs destabilize the agricultural sector, making it difficult for farmers to predict costs and sustain their livelihoods.

"This is something Trump really, really heavily went after in his administration... they were willing to take that, like short term kind of tightness to get over that hump."
[13:49]

He underscores the resilience of farmers and the importance of supporting local agriculture to maintain economic stability and food security.

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11. Cultural and Social Issues

Rhodes touches upon the increasing polarization in society, fueled by misinformation and targeted censorship. He discusses how issues like gender ideology and racial tensions are being manipulated to create divisions, arguing that open dialogue is essential to dismantle these manufactured conflicts.

"They want to pit these people against each other so that you can control them as a government."
[31:02]

By providing a platform for unfiltered conversations, Parler seeks to counteract these divisive tactics and promote unity through understanding.

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12. Global Perspective on Free Speech

Acknowledging that censorship is not confined to the United States, Rhodes emphasizes the global nature of the issue. He asserts that without international cooperation and platforms that respect free speech, the trend towards information suppression will continue unabated.

"It's a worldwide problem. It's not just the U.S. They're everywhere."
[21:31]

This global outlook reinforces Parler's commitment to being a bastion of free expression irrespective of geographical boundaries.

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13. Future Prospects and Platform Enhancements

Looking ahead, Rhodes outlines Parler's plans to introduce more dynamic features such as enhanced video capabilities, short clips, and a marketplace facilitating direct consumer interactions. These developments aim to improve user experience and expand the platform's functionality.

"We're going to have more video and bursts and things like that, which are a lot, a lot."
[05:53]

He believes these innovations will attract more users and solidify Parler's position as a leading free speech platform.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a strong endorsement of Parler's mission to empower user voices and resist the tide of censorship sweeping through digital platforms. Ryan Rhodes invites listeners to join Parler, emphasizing the importance of collective action in preserving free speech and fostering an environment where truth can flourish.

"We just put that out and, and I really, really encourage you guys, everybody to get out there and see that, read it, get on there, more dialogue and go to Parler."
[35:22]

Sean Kelly and Ryan Rhodes leave listeners with a compelling message about the necessity of platforms like Parler in maintaining the foundational democratic principle of free expression, urging everyone to participate in the movement to reclaim their voices.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "For Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue, can talk and have that opportunity without being censored, without being taken offline... because we really want truth."
  [00:00]

• "Yeah. So they, they, they hate that word because they're like, no, we don't shadow ban. It's very clear, it's very clear why."
  [05:58]

• "We're entirely new. The name may be, this may be the same, but we're a very new company and we're out there doing things differently in a way that we think is going to have a long term sustainability."
  [18:35]

• "If you're not... you have that robot that just gets fed that information, you're not going to think for yourself and you're going to be easy to control."
  [27:46]

• "They want to pit these people against each other so that you can control them as a government."
  [31:02]

• "It's a worldwide problem. It's not just the U.S. They're everywhere."
  [21:31]

• "We're going to have more video and bursts and things like that, which are a lot, a lot."
  [05:53]

• "We just put that out and, and I really, really encourage you guys, everybody to get out there and see that, read it, get on there, more dialogue and go to Parler."
  [35:22]

---

Final Thoughts

The "Parler Returns: Empower Your Voice Today!" episode serves as both an exposé on the challenges of maintaining free speech in the digital era and a rallying cry for users to embrace platforms that prioritize open dialogue. Through Ryan Rhodes' insights, listeners gain a deeper understanding of Parler's strategic initiatives to combat censorship and promote truthful conversations, positioning the platform as a pivotal player in the ongoing battle for unrestricted digital communication.

Transcript

[Ryan Rhodes]

So for Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue, can talk and have that opportunity without being censored, without being taken offline, where there's not you, the government and what you can say, but it's you directly to other Americans, other people around the world of we're having a conversation because we really want truth.

[Paul]

Tired of feeling like your voice is being drowned out on social media? It's time to experience the new Parlor where your voice is heard, your opinions matter, and your freedom to speak is respected. Pauler is back and it's better than ever. Reimagine to give you the ultimate control over your content. No confusing algorithms deciding what you see, no hidden agendas, just real, authentic conversations. Share your thoughts, connect with like minded people and be part of a community where your free speech truly thrives. At Parler, your privacy is always a priority. Your data belongs to you. We're here to empower users, not control them. Whether you're engaging in discussions, sharing news or just staying connected, Parler is the platform where you are in charge, ready to take back control. Download the Parler app today on iOS or Android and join the movement. It's your voice, your platform. Let it be heard. Go to the App Store or Google Play Store today. Download Parlor now, where you have the power.

[Unknown]

All right, guys, CEO of Parler, Ryan Rhodes here today. We are in Dallas, Texas. Thanks for coming on, man.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, absolutely. So, and it's makes it easy because our offices are here and we were up in Plano and we were just on with the Tucker show last night, so been a lot going on in the last day, but excited to be here.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that was a cool event. Roseanne Barr, I know.

[Paul]

Firing.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I know she did the last two days, Alex Jones and Roseanne Barr, there's been no lack of content and energy in the crowd. So it was last night there was over 8,000 people, so. Wow. Getting more and more exposure for Parlor as well. We're out getting out there, so. But it was, it was really, really fun. Just packed arena, so.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Paul]

Incredible.

[Unknown]

What's been your favorite? There's been 13 events so far, right?

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, 13 events. We got three left to go. Greenville, South Carolina and then two in Florida. My favorite. You know, it's so tough because they're so different. Different. But really, you know, Russell Brand was something I didn't entirely expect at all. He really, he really got out there and you can see that kind of transformation in him from where he had gone to where it is. So seeing that stuff was really cool.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that was a really inspiring and emotional one. I saw him get on his knees and pray.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah. So it's.

[Unknown]

It's actually so interesting because a lot of the guests he's bringing on have been canceled.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, a lot of them have. And that's really a big part of, like, why we're here, here with Parlor, because so many people are getting demonetized, they're getting canceled, they're getting kicked off platforms simply for looking for the truth. I mean, we see this stuff with RFK and everything else where he was really fighting on vaccines, talking about information, and he was getting out there just wanting to, you know, have this discussion about what's going on, where Covid cut what all these lies we saw during COVID and for a lot of people, they were getting demonetized and everything else on all these other platforms, they were colluding with the government to do this. So for Parler, our really, really focus is making sure that people can have that open dialogue, can talk and have that opportunity without being censored, without being taken offline, where there's not you, the government and what you can say, but it's you directly to other Americans, other people around the world of we're having a conversation because we really want truth.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Shout out to rfk. Because you couldn't even say the V word, the vaccine word, two years ago. And I feel like because he pushed it so hard, now we can finally say it.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, now, I mean, now you can finally have a dialogue. And I mean, the biggest thing on all this stuff is when they're trying to shut something down, they say you can't say something at all. At all. You got to question a lot of that. I mean, when you get into these things, it's so funny because for instance, when I. What really gave me pause early on was like, I'm allergic to penicillin, right? So, like, I can't have that, even though it's helpful for other people. If you can't even be honest and be like, oh, absolutely nothing, nobody could possibly ever have this, well, then you're not even being honest about. About actual things that can come out of it. And then our RFK starts digging into it more and more and talking about things that are rushing, just, hey, guys, maybe some people are going to have real honest questions that aren't fear mongering or anything else. And they couldn't even have that discussion on other platforms or they were completely taken off.

[Unknown]

Right.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Whereas for us, we want to make sure. In the future as we grow more and more that we have a chance to be able to allow people to do it. And I don't think this is the last time anyone's getting censored. You know, they've.

[Paul]

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[Ryan Rhodes]

It back a little bit and you're seeing stuff, but I think you're going to see stuff come again in full force and back. And that's where Parlor is going to give everybody a place to go. And as we grow and we're bringing more and more stuff out, our platform's getting better and better where we're going to have more video and bursts and things like that, which are a lot, a lot. The short clips and everything. It's going to be really cool for people to get out there and then have that ability to not be censored.

[Unknown]

Yeah, I think they'll always be censorship. Right now I feel like they're just being more sneaky with it, like shadow banning and stuff.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah. So they, they, they hate that word because they're like, no, we don't shadow ban. It's very clear, it's very clear why.

[Unknown]

They'Re down 70% right now.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I know, it's. So what we need to do is build up these other platforms and honestly, we need to stop being, being fooled by them. Where they go, oh, well, we got in trouble. People are getting mad. They're looking for other alternatives. So we're gonna not censor quite as much right now and then everybody just stays. Well, that's why it's incumbent to get on these other platforms, forms like we have Parlor and actually build it up. So we go, no, no, no, we're not giving you second, third, fourth. You lost your chances. You're already past your third chance. We want places that we can go that we know are built on that fairness. They're built on that free speech desire where we can have conversations and do more out there.

[Unknown]

Do you think a big part of the problem is these big companies are in bed with the government and the Government's kind of telling them what to do.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, I mean, very much. They. They've actively said that. They openly admitted it. I mean, even, you know, Zuckerberg has apology for maybe we shouldn't have done this. But if you're colluding, obviously that's. They're still doing it. But if you're colluding with the government, with big tech, look at the administration, it's really almost election interference as well, because when they go out and the Hunter Biden laptop story is not there, if we were. If we were up and up and going and in our current form of where we're at, because we had just. We bought the company, brought it back because we really thought people want a new place to go for this. If we were there there before, operating as we are now, people would have another outlet to be able to talk about that stuff and get it out. But when you shut down a story about one political person in Biden, in the Biden family, it changes votes. Because. Because they said the whole time it was lies. The lies. L. But I think American people are smart enough to actually go and look through things. Sure, there's going to be some people that go and say things that aren't true, but that's why a dialogue is important, so that you can go and see what is true, you can weed through that, and we can trust the people to actually have that discussion together instead of saying the government's going to get in between that.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Dialogue is crucial because the truth will come out through dialogue eventually.

[Ryan Rhodes]

And it has. It just took years and it. And now we have a president sitting in there who can barely function because they wouldn't let people even question whether or not maybe he was fit, whether what else was going on behind the scenes. And instead, now we have what we have right now.

[Unknown]

Yeah, I think Parlor and X were like the saving grace, because without those apps, you wouldn't have Alex Jones, you wouldn't have RFK speaking out. Even Trump got banned from everywhere.

[Ryan Rhodes]

So it's absolutely amazing that they could go and take the President of the United States off of an app and say, you can no longer speak just because. Just because they had issues or they thought something. And we've seen the narrative that they used to take him off just completely disintegrate, which is why they're allowing him back on again. But who knows with this election, you know, I hope we can do something and we can fix this and give him a chance to bring this economy back and everything, but, you know, we don't know what they're going to do. And if not, they could take him back off the next day. What if they censor him so. So he can't get his message out and just turn his reach down. The more places like parler that we have to get that message out or to allow people to hear it, the better informed a voter's gonna be too.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it just seems so targeted too. Like they seem to be all in bed with each other. Cause when they banned him, it was every app the same day. Same with Andrew Tate.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah. I mean they're going out and they say this is not speech that we're gonna allow. We're not gonna let you think like that, we're not gonna let you talk like that. And so all of a sudden it's like a ban and it's. Oh, no, no. We just decided that this was a thing. It's a site. You're coordinating this. This is clearly coordinated hits on people that are taking their voice away. Okay. And what happens when we find out so often that these facts aren't true? Right. And so all of a sudden that person got banned, could never go out and talk. Has to find alternative ways around there to get their message out so they can say, I just got railroaded. Well, once again with Parlor, we're not going to do that. We're going to give them the opportunity to be able to make their case and get out there and talk. Talk through what's going on, why the things are going on and how we can actually fight through the misinformation that is they love the disinformation thing. Well, they're spreading disinformation because they're not allowing somebody else to get out the real information.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah. I was talking to Amy yesterday. So there's going to be no fact checking on the site.

[Paul]

Right?

[Unknown]

No bots going through all the.

[Ryan Rhodes]

No, we're not going through bots. We have an. We do have automated moderation and stuff, but stuff. Because as we're going to go on that. But the main thing, our main focus is we've seen in this time like child trafficking and, and this stuff is out of control. So what we are not doing is we are not going to have porn on our platform. We are not. Because that is a gateway to the child trafficking and do that. So we are doing things like shutting that stuff down. Because what we want is dialogue and discussion. We're not trying to. We don't want to promote anything like that. Like human traffic here in Otto. So that is a line in the sand. We do draw on our app because we think that will actually help with dialogue and that and for speech and people getting out and out and talking.

[Unknown]

Yeah. So I know you're from Iowa. Did you grow up in a small, small city?

[Ryan Rhodes]

I get small compared to Dallas, but I grew up in Cedar Rapids. So it was, you know, a good sized city in Iowa. And then in the Des Moines Ames, went to school at Iowa State. Names and everything. So I've not really rural, but I got a lot of buddies that are rural. So I went out there, did some construction and stuff during college, golf course, you know, just so I like. It's. It's kind of interesting with Iowa, you get a good city feel, but you can also, you know, you're down there in rural, so you kind of get that back. Back to a very quiet, more lifestyle. That's. That's nice. A different pace. And you know, as you know, Iowa produces. We feed the world. So that's important there that we have. You know, cities are great, but we also have communities that can get out there and make sure our foods. We got good food.

[Unknown]

I got a new bucket list. Adam, you said the ice cream in Iowa.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Oh, yeah, we got some great ice cream.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's on my bucket list now.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah. There's some of these little local spots though, that they do it very fresh and, and it's, man, I get. I get spoiled.

[Unknown]

Oh, I love it, man. Yeah, that's on my list. And as a business leader, it's important to have that country aspect, but also city life. You were in D.C. for a bit. I feel like some of these politicians are just all city based. They don't know how to resonate with like.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Well, I think so many of them, they get, they get stuck in there. Even if they're from rural or wherever else it is, they go out to D.C. and they just get stuck in the city and it's one thing after another. And it's almost like they get a disconnect from their home district. And then some of them came from cities and they never, they've never gone anywhere but a city. So they don't understand all of the aspects of this that are out there and it's. Which is more important. You know, hopefully we can get people talking, get people integrated on this, but this and, and hopefully, you know, fix a lot of these issues. Because as we've seen, the food issue is. I mean, it's huge. You know, we're not making America healthy. I mean, that's Something RFK said he's taught. He. I don't know if he actually announced it on the Tucker tour, but, you know, he's talking about make America healthy again. We have to start looking about where our food's coming from and how we're, how we're doing this and really get back to kind of a lot of where we've been for sure.

[Unknown]

So how are the farmers in Iowa doing right now? Because I'm seeing a lot of headlines of China buying farms.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Well, so in terms of the buying up farmland, Iowa is putting a stop to that. The governor's been, been really, you know, trying to, trying to get rid of that. But, you know, it's not, it's hard to compete because there's so many other factors with China and everything else they do. It's not a living level playing field. Right. This isn't, you know, they free, it's not free trade when they're going out. And when farmers are buying fertilizer or something like that and it's coming, I mean, almost everything they're using is coming from overseas. We're not even being allowed to make it here anymore. And so what happens is it gets shipped over. They buy one cost and then China goes and is like, oh, it's on the way. The cost went up, so you have to pay us more before you can unload this and get it in the field. We ship stuff over to them. They go, oh no, we're going to sit that and wait because the price went down. So it's really, really hard to plan on this. This is something Trump really, really heavily went after in his administration and why a lot of farmers said, you know, there are some things that tariffs can do that like temporarily hurt us, but it created a better playing field for a longer term. So they were willing to take that, like short term kind of tightness to get over that hump to say, if we can operate fair, we do it so well, we're gonna, we feed the world. Like I said, if we can operate on a fair playing field where it's actually, you know, what they say they're doing, then we're going to be able to compete, no problem. But if we're operating in a world where we don't know what it is, there is no continuity, then it's very hard for our farmers to plan. And as you've seen, with the fuel prices and everything else going up, that also affects because they have to get the stuff from their farm to market. And so the fuel costs really drive up and also hurt a farmer's bottom line big time.

[Unknown]

Absolutely. Yeah. So my dad and grandfather both grew up on a farm in pa. I don't think we could live off that these days.

[Ryan Rhodes]

No, it's, it's, it's amazing the resiliency of a lot of our farmers to maintain these century farms and other things out there. And I really think that it's going to be important to keep that.

[Unknown]

I mean, who knows what they're putting in all the fruits, but they're so cheap now that these local farmers can't compete.

[Ryan Rhodes]

It's true. But I think people are going to, are heading back because they're seeing something and they say, we want to, we want to go back. We, we want that organic stuff. We want those people who are really putting their blood, sweat and tears into these things to make better product, not just mass produce. You can see it in the taste. And, you know, that's the other thing. Hopefully with us we can, you know, we can get the message out more and more and more. The more people can talk about it, the more you have these platforms where people can communicate, like partly, you know, you can set up a marketplace. We have our marketplace coming out. So if you can start doing different things like that, getting it out on different means, where you're going direct to consumer and you're not having to go through these large, you know, the large scale companies to get it. I think, I think there's a lot of things that can come out of that and a lot of it's going to take the farmers jumping up and trying these new avenues to get it out there as opposed to, you know, just sending it out to the big box.

[Unknown]

Yeah, absolutely. When I go to farmers markets, it's like, oh, yeah, for me, I love, I'd rather support them than go to like a big grocery store.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And it tastes better.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I know. The tomato.

[Unknown]

Oh, those tomatoes.

[Ryan Rhodes]

You get a good tomato, it's like, oh, it's just so different than the, than these other ones that taste a little waxy.

[Unknown]

Oh, yeah. I mean, apel. Right.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

They're putting that Bill Gates stuff on the fruit now.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

That's a whole nother podcast.

[Ryan Rhodes]

You wouldn't be able to say that in some areas.

[Unknown]

Oh, yeah, I know. Yeah. Certain sites will ban you for that one. That's like the new vaccine, right? Saying that stuff. There's always like a new thing. They're censoring. I noticed.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I know.

[Unknown]

You know.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yep. But yeah, so. Well, that's like I said, there is always that New thing they're censoring. You just never know what it is going to be today. And a lot of that's driven by corporations going out there and you know, tamping down somebody else's speech because they. Oh, don't say that. And they have all the money to try to stop it. Well, we're not going to do that. We. And we can't be taken down like the previous iteration of Parler because we have our own cloud. And so that allows us a lot of ability to not have to worry about certain other things because we are on our own platform, we have our own infrastructure in a way that other apps have definitely not done that. Especially other apps trying to compete in kind of a more free speech, open dialogue. Well, AWS can take them down, down these other places they can't take us down because we have our own cloud.

[Unknown]

Nice. And AWS owns a big percentage of all the websites, right?

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, I mean they own all kinds of stuff, stuff across there. And so for us, we just felt it was that important to make sure that our infrastructure did not rely on something that could cut us out. Because we have 16 million users plus that were on there and we're bringing more and more back. And so as they come back, they're going to have that dialogue and being able to speak without the fear that like the pastime it was taken down, down. But we're entirely new. The name may be, this may be the same, but we're a very new company and we're out there doing things differently in a way that we think is going to have a long term sustainability.

[Unknown]

Love that. Yeah. I never would have thought hosting company could take down a business like that.

[Ryan Rhodes]

So you, I mean you would, you would think there would be some way to, way that these people would be able to go and with a creator. Right. If these concrete creators are kicked off, you're demonetizing them. You are without a trial, without a jury, you're going out and taking their livelihood. How can you do that on a platform you've invited them onto to be there? And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, all of your, everything, you're monetizing all of your livelihood. It's gone. You can't do it anymore. Now we own it, on it. And that's something, I think with Parler we really, really want to be able to let people do that, have that freedom, not have that fear of constantly doing it. Because that's the other thing. When somebody has that fear, it dictates what they Say there's things people are going on. They go, I want to have this conversation. I want to do these things and talk about it. But if I put it on there, my pla. My station's going to get. And channel is going to get demonetized. Well, if you're on parlor, you won't have to worry about that. You're going to have that dialogue, the OG and that freedom. And I think we're going to start sifting through things and seeing more, because we're not trying to push and have our finger on the scale, our thumb on the scale of what people can and can't say.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah. Government pressure's insane. I see Newsom going on Twitter pretty much every day.

[Ryan Rhodes]

It's crazy. They goes out there and says, you can't do this. You can't do that. Otherwise we're gonna find you. We're gonna do that. Well, I mean, that's just. It's just ridiculous in here. I mean, America is built on the freedom of speech and ability to live your life. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, all these things. We're looking at stuff in so many other countries where they're putting their thumb on the scale. Like, basically, you can't even maybe be a Christian. You can't say things in the Bible all of a sudden because of this. And so people are going to have to push back, and it's going to take pushing back on Newsom, it's going to take pushing back on Trudeau, it's going to take pushing back on these people and saying, no, no, no, no, no, you don't get to do that. We. We are. We are in a new age where we are not going to be the people that are telling you what you can think, think or who or where you can go to get your information.

[Unknown]

Yeah. And I recently learned after that, Olympic opening. This is a worldwide problem. It's not just the U.S. yeah.

[Ryan Rhodes]

It's. It's.

[Unknown]

They're everywhere.

[Ryan Rhodes]

It's really. It's really. Honestly, it's kind of scary.

[Unknown]

Super scary.

[Ryan Rhodes]

If we. And if we don't do something and if we don't go to places to push back and talk about it now, then it's going to be much harder to create these things in the future, which is, once again why I was bringing up, like, we got to get off these other things, and we got to get onto places where we can have that dialogue. So it's open. Open. Because the more sunlight we have now, when they come back, the other apps, they're Going to go, oh, well, we tried to censor. And it's actually going to force their behavior differently as well because they have competition. And so often we just haven't seen them have competition because people keep staying there. Well, when we get out there, that competition is going to go, well, maybe we won't go that far left and such, or maybe we won't cut all this stuff off. So it as a whole will keep everything, keep the ability for people to get that message out.

[Unknown]

Yeah. They'll be forced to make changes because so many people.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Exactly.

[Unknown]

They have to. Right. I wonder if that will happen anytime soon, you think?

[Ryan Rhodes]

Look, I think it's. I mean, I think it's happening right now. And I think if we don't do something now, then, you know, we won't have 10 years from now, five years from now. We're going to look back and go, well, we want to do something. And then everybody's going to be angry, but they're not going to have an outlet. So it's really important that these people go and get on and become early adopters as we. As everything grows to get into this and be able to give their voice now before it's too late. And it's so much harder to fight back.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I feel like during the pandemic, there was no outlet.

[Ryan Rhodes]

I know. And it was just crazy. You're locked in your home. There's no outlet. You can't do anything. And that in and of itself just the way they said, if you don't think like us, if you're questioning anything, like, they're shutting down business. I mean, they're keeping strip clubs open and shutting down churches. Okay. Apparently you can get Covid at church and not in a strip club. I mean, it's insane. But you couldn't say that or you get demonetized. And so we. The more we have. Have that discussion, the more we can call out that kind of hypocrisy on places like Parler. The better we're going to be in the future, and the better we're going to be able to protect our own freedoms. So it's not even. It's not just about. At the app. It's about. It's an ability to have that freedom to go out there and say who you are and live your life.

[Unknown]

I see so much regret with people that got influenced during the pandemic. I know, like, everywhere.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Well, we. It's funny. So house and habit. Jessica, she. She went. She had an entire, like, awakening of this, and she's been on the tour with RFK and everything else, because she goes, wait a minute. This is insane. What we're. What we're doing all this regulation. So she. She has a really cool story. She went from the left to. To now, getting out there and being able to have the free thought and going, wait, these people been lying to me. I was out in California. I was living my life, and all of a sudden I found out all these. All this stuff that I thought wasn't true. And, you know, it's really cool that we do now. I think you're seeing a lot of those people willing to go back and look and reassess. Seth, you see it with rfk, with Tulsi Gabbard. They're reassessing what was told, what they believed in a way that's like just. Just totally new and open. Because for the longest time it was, you know, left verse. Right. And I think obviously, in a lot of ways, it's easy to frame the argument like that. It's not really just left verse. Right. You know, it's. It's. It's really truth. Truth versus evil. In a lot of cases, that's how.

[Unknown]

People should view it. Right. Because they put these labels like Democrat, Republican, but that's irrelevant.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

You know, so.

[Ryan Rhodes]

And I mean, every Republican's not right. Every Democrat's not 100% wrong all the time. They're getting close, though, But. But, you know, as that goes. And it's the other thing, too. You know, we're not, you know, a lot of our users lean to the right. There are. A lot of them are looking for conservative content. But the other thing is, you know, we'll take all the lefties coming out over and. And have an argument. Let's have it out. Let's discuss this stuff so that we're not hiding information from people. We can have an open dialogue and people can get out there. And so we invite everybody on our platform to go and share if they think it's mis. If the other side thinks it's misinformation, get out there and argue with the other person. Explain why you don't believe that. And then somewhere in the middle of that, we are really gonna find the truth for sure.

[Paul]

That's why I watch Charlie Kirk.

[Unknown]

Cause he'll pull up to liberal college campuses and have conversations. He won't get. He won't did. Like, we'll just treat it like a normal conversation.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Absolutely. He's. He's. He's so good at just being like, okay, well, I'VE heard you out and everything. Now we're gonna, like, now we're gonna go back and forth and you have to bring some facts to the table. You can't just spout, you know, shouting in the wind, talking points, points. And, and you see, you know, some people are gonna run to their corner, corner and just never, ever be changed. But a lot of other people, all of a sudden it's like, wait, I never thought about it that way. This is breaking it. And if you can't, if we don't get out and have that dialogue, we can do it. We're just not gonna, we're not gonna get better. We're gonna continue in our own corner. And, you know, it's awesome that he goes to college campuses and does that, that, but he, when he goes to college campuses, they also need somewhere to show people like, we're doing this, this. So instead of just five people, when you got that app, you can talk to millions, millions of people and you can get that out there. And we saw Charlie on tour, which was really cool. Gave a nice shout out to Parler as he's getting back on as well and posting content. And so the tour's been really valuable as we get more and more influencers back on the platform to tell people it's really important to have this place to go so we can talk. We've been demonetized and we want to be able to get back out there, there and tell people and share this open dialogue in this discussion.

[Unknown]

Yeah, exciting times. I'm hopeful, man. You guys are really inspiring the next generation, I feel like, because it would have been a scary time for our kids to grow up with censored platforms. Like, they would have just been robots, NPCs.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yep. And that's what that, that's what they want. Because for a government, it makes you much more easier to control like that if you're, if you're not. If you are just that robot that just gets fed that information, you're not going to, you're not going to think for yourself and you're going to be easy to control.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's how I was for 18 years growing up in Jersey. Everyone was Democrat crowd around me. I watched the news every day, watch the talk shows. I actually watched the talk show with Jimmy last night just because I was in the hotel room and I couldn't believe I used to watch that show. I mean, it was crazy. They were making fun of Trump the whole time. They. They were obviously promoting certain people that were paid to be on or whatever.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah. I mean, it's. It's just. It's just crazy. You watch, you go back and see some of the things, and you see how really they're just trying to control you, to change things. I mean, look at these. And these places like Disney and others, they get out there and they're. They have an agenda. Right. Like. Like what they're doing to our kids. The kids these days, days with going in and somebody feels a little awkward or something else, and they go. They start pushing this gender ideology on them, and then they go and say, oh, you can't talk. You can't talk about that. If you push back and take it. Take these people away from the parents, and then they have no outlet. Right. We. We have. We've got to be out there exposing that more, talking about these things. Things, or we're going to lose our culture.

[Unknown]

The kids stuff is mind blowing to me. I just saw some crazy thing on Twitter where a lot of these celebrities are having transgender kids.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And I don't think that's a coincidence.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Well, no, I mean, I think. I think what they're doing is they're actively basically warping their minds before they can grow up. We're not teaching them to be kids kids. We're training them to be whatever new social construct that makes them popular in Hollywood or anything else is. Is. And so they're actually really abusing their kids, and yet they want to go and attack other people and say, no, you're abusing the child. Because they, you know, they went to school and they were told they're supposed to wear a dress or something if they're a boy, boy. And then you have no agency there, there. So the parents, like Gavin Newsom and Tim Walls, they want to take all of a sudden the agency away from the parents. Parents. Instead of actually letting the parents, let the kids be kids and the parents be parents so that they can. You can grow up. It's just. It's just a wild world because, look, we all go through as kids. Everybody's gonna go through that awkward stage or something else where they're. They're not sure what. What's going on. I had a buddy tell me. He goes, you know, my kid thought he was a dinosaur for. He watched Jurassic park, decided he was a dinosaur. Okay? So for a week, he goes, he's a kid. I'll let him be a dinosaur. And then finally he goes, okay, buddy, you're not a dinosaur. You can't, like, bite people. You can't do this. Stuff. You're not a dinosaur. Well, when the government gets in between that parent and their parenting of the child, then it really, they can't help teach that kid those things as things. So they're learning to grow up and be who they're going to be as it goes. And so I think it's just more and more important that we're all out there talking about that, telling people, having that dialogue so that we can give parents a better chance, we can give our country, and we can give kids a better chance at being able to find where they're at.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's a shame because parents want the best for their kids. They send them to school thinking they're learning useful stuff and little do they know they're being influenced.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Oh, yes. I mean, we could go on for hours on the stories and stories that are happening. Whether, you know, where some kid comes back and at home and like, oh, well, I'm apparently bad because I'm, you know, the kid doesn't know anything about being, you know, race or anything. Like, they just know their buddies are there and then their teacher comes out and is like, like, you're bad, so you have to go sit on that side of the room. He's like, wait, I didn't know. I just thought I was a, you know, I was a kid. I didn't know about it. And they're teaching it this stuff at an age where people aren't even ready. These kids aren't ready. They don't even know about it. Do we have, are there things that we have to discuss that were hard, things that happened in the past, past and evils that we've gone beyond? Absolutely. But it's also evil to go and start perpetuating that because you want to pit two people against, on race, gender and all of that stuff. You want to pit these people against each other so that you can control them as a government. That's also an evil going forward as well. And it's also going to create more problem, more problems that we've in a lot of ways grown out of as a country through hard times. I mean, we fought wars over this. This. We've, we've, there's been, there's been a lot of dissension over it. But I think we'd gone a long way and just all of a sudden they're trying to take us back the opposite way and under the guise of, of inclusion and equity. And that's not really what they're, what we're, we're seeing the direction Things.

[Unknown]

Yeah, Yeah. I feel like they use racism, sexism as a means to just make us.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Fight each other 100%.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's definitely done on purpose, and I feel like it's just a waste of time for the most part. Like, obviously that stuff exists, but we shouldn't be focusing on it daily.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, but like, when you. When you see something like that, that when somebody's mistreating somebody specifically, you can call it. Call it out, but when somebody just accidentally is like, oh, I didn't really think of it that way. That way. I'm sorry, I didn't know. To talk about this. You just get so scared, like, working around it, and too many people are afraid to talk. And once again, with all that, that you get on there and you have platforms, these other platforms like Facebook, and all of a sudden they're pushing and they're like, oh, no, you can't say that. You can't have that open dialogue. Dialogue. And, you know, I think it's important to make sure we are. We have those things that can give people the chance to. To have those discussions. I mean, it's. If. If we don't provide an alternative, how long is it going to be before they try to shut down Rogan, before they shut down. Try to shut down all these other people who. Rogan's another one. He. He works through. And I don't. He doesn't agree with every single guest, obviously, that he has on, as I'm sure you wouldn't with all your guests. But you can have a discussion, you can have a talk, and people can work through some uncomfortable things sometimes and get to another place. But at least we're discussing it in a real way, not shouting at people and not just trying to shut them up because they don't believe exactly what you believe.

[Unknown]

Absolutely. And I feel like they were trying to censor the Israel war so people didn't know what side to pick because they were censoring it. And that's just the latest example.

[Ryan Rhodes]

Yeah, it's hard. Whether it's the war in Israel or whether it's the Ukrainian war and everything we're seeing there, if you. We're not there. Right. So we're not in Israel, we're not in Ukraine. Right. So we don't know. We can't see directly what's happening on the ground. We have to rely on, you know, reports of this thing. And obviously we've seen so many media so skewed in one way or another, another telling us that we have to. We have to only believe this one thing. So you want to get out there and get facts, facts out there. And it's going to take platforms to actually allow this dialogue and this discussion out there so that we can. So that we can kind of make up our own minds with more and more information, not less information.

[Unknown]

Absolutely. Ryan, it's been a pleasure, man. Where can people find you and find out about Parler?

[Ryan Rhodes]

Well, you can go to parler.com we've got a great art, great article we just also put out about. About free speech. Speech and how we're. How I actually got it pulled up right here, right here.

[Unknown]

We'll link it in the video.

[Ryan Rhodes]

So it's social media, free speech and the cost of censorship. So we just put that out and, and I really, really encourage you guys, everybody to get out there and see that, read it, get on there, more dialogue and go to Parlor. Parlor and get on our app.

[Unknown]

Boom. We'll link it below.

[Paul]

Thanks for watching, guys, as always and.

[Unknown]

I'll see you next time.