At the beginning of the week, social media platform Parler made it to the top of Twitter’s trending topics in Brazil after the network’s app was banned by Apple, Amazon, and Google. Popular among the American alt-right, Parler was adjudged not to have taken sufficient action to curb posts inciting violence in the U.S.
Soon after, Parler went offline. Supporters of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro — who had helped promote the social network in the country — took to Twitter and Facebook to protest, speaking of a “plot to silence conservatives around the world.”
Far from just being made up of Bolsonaro-supporting netizens, the dissenting group also included the president’s three politician sons, members of the cabinet, and government-supporting congressmen.
Many of these figures are already under investigation for spreading misinformation online about Brazil’s democratic institutions as well as organizing anti-democratic protests — such as those calling for the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court last year.
Despite being seen as something of an online Wild West for the far-right — thanks to its lack of content restrictions — Parler is just one...
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