Political Neutrality
Choosing Parler Over Politicized Platforms
As these major social media platforms become more political, there is a greater worry that they are biased, censoring, and meddling in political speech. Facebook and Instagram are said to be unfairly pro-Left, and when content is moderated it is supposedly done by Lefty ideologues – instead of being by algorithm – and thus it is biased and slanted against conservatives. Parler stresses that it’s neither Left or Right and wants to be a place where political life can take place without deep state interference by Leftist institutions.
Facebook and Instagram have been plagued by accusations of political bias over perceived forms of censorship and favoritism, while their users are constantly confronted with content-moderation decisions that seem to advance the platforms’ own political interests. Principled depoliticization on Parler makes political debate possible without intimidation of ‘wrong-thinkers’ by vigilant, ideological enforcers.
Parler’s commitment to political neutrality applies not just to content moderation but to platform design as well. Algorithms built into big social media and search platforms may ‘discover’ more of some political views than of others. Depending on the design of the algorithm, this can lead to knock-down drag-out ideological fights driving up engagement, or it can create something like a ‘digital echo chamber’ in which people get caught in feeding loops of their own beliefs. To combat this, Parler gives its own algorithms instructions to make sure it presents a diverse set of political content to each user, pushing people out of their comfort zones.
As the 2024 election approaches, having a platform for political discourse free from bias arguably becomes all the more important. Since Parler has committed to political neutrality, it promises that users of all political stripes, left or right, can tweet, like and comment without fear that their discourse will suffer suppression or algorithmic punishment by having posts pushed down or out of sight.
When Parler users choose Parler over politicized alternatives, they are signaling not just a desire for a neutral space for political organising, but also a desire to create a space free from the ability of political factions and interests to manipulate public opinion. In the absence of politicized corporate or state interests in content moderation, users on Parler can rest assured that democratic ideals will be allowed to flourish, and that they will be able to voice their political concerns without fear of being silenced by competing views.
