The rapper formerly known as Kanye West has entered into an agreement to purchase the free speech social network Parler, a platform favored by conservatives.
The move comes after West, who legally changed his name to Ye, was locked out of Twitter and Instagram for making antisemitic posts.
"In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," Ye said in a statement released Monday by Parler.
Parlement Technologies, which owns the platform, expects the deal to close during the fourth quarter of 2022.
CEO George Farmer said the deal will "change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech."
"Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again," Farmer said. "Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals."
Exact terms of the deal, including the purchase amount, were not disclosed. However, the company said the deal includes ongoing technical support, and the use of Parlement's private cloud services and data center infrastructure.
Parlement, based in Nashville, describes itself as "a guiding force in the fight against Big Tech, Big Government, censorship, and cancel culture." The company says Parler, which launched in 2018, is "the leading viewpoint-neutral, free speech social media platform" with "over 16 million users."
"Parler uses the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as a guide, making it possible for people to speak freely without fear of being suspended or labeled 'dangerous' and banned," the company said. "Parler is the public town hall where everyone is welcome, and civil debate is encouraged around diverse topics."
According to data reviewed by the Associated Press, Parler had an average of 725,000 monthly active users in the U.S. for the first half of this year, down from 5.2 million in the first half of 2021.
In comparison, Twitter had a daily average of about 237.8 million active users during its most recent quarter, and right-wing platform Truth Social had 2.4 million monthly users during the same period, per the AP.
Ye was recently blocked from posting on Twitter and Instagram over posts that the networks said violated their policies.
In a since-removed tweet, Ye said he was "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE," and also that, "You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda," CNN reported.
On Instagram, Ye posted a screenshot of a text conversation with rapper Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, and suggested he was being controlled by Jewish people, Politico reported. The post came after Diddy encouraged people not to buy or wear a "White Lives Matter" shirt that Ye debuted at his Yeezy fashion show in Paris.
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