Tory Ministers joined banned social media site

The usual suspects - they're so predictable!

I'm not worried, nor surprised.

I'm always worried by tories ?

What is interesting is that most of Parler's data was 'scraped' before the platform was shut down. This included deleted messages which were never removed from the server.

While the scraped data will initially be closely examined for planning, particpation and incitement in connection with the storming of the Capitol, the uk stuff is bound to be investigated eventually. What this will reveal is anyone's guess.

Whether voters will care about any wrongdoing that is revealed is also anybody's guess. They have so far shown themselves to be, on the whole, completely indifferent to dodgy political dealings.

Some of them are claiming that they only joined to support ‘free speech’.
Yeah right!

There are no surprises really, but the company they keep?

You would have thought that they would be more choosy.

Some are joining JHB in denying the covid crises. They need to be dealt with.

At least 14 Conservative MPs, including several ministers, cabinet minister Michael Gove and a number of prominent Tory commentators joined Parler, the social media platform favoured by the far right that was forced offline last week for hosting threats of violence and racist slurs.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly along with Brexiter Steve Baker MP.

Ben Bradley MP, who was recently accused of linking free school meals with “crack dens”, joined Parler.

Far-right provocateur Katie Hopkins joined on the same day, after her Twitter account was permanently suspended. Hopkins, who on Thursday joined Ukip in time for the party’s leadership contest, owned Parler’s largest UK account.

Mark Jenkinson, who last year alleged that food parcels were sold or traded for drugs in his Cumbrian constituency without offering any proof.

Health minister Nadine Dorries joined Parler on 21 June. Dorries had weeks earlier been reprimanded by Downing Street for sharing a video from a far-right Twitter account that falsely claimed Keir Starmer blocked the prosecution of grooming gang members when he led the Crown Prosecution Service.

The most prolific Tory MP on the site was Ben Bradley who sent 52 “parleys” and had more than 12,000 followers.

Michael Gove sent at least 26 parleys and had more than 5,000 followers.

Other notable Conservative figures on the site include pro-Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes.

Does belie the claim that the Tory party is NOT a far right party.

The Tory Party is no longer the party that traditional conservatives voted for.

The Tory party is UKIP

I am a bit shocked at Gove. I know he is a t**t (almost all teachers hate him for decimating UK education) but I didn't have him down for a fascist or a white supremacist.

I think some in the Tory party have become more emboldened since Brexit, and behaviour and speech which was at one time considered extreme, is no longer the case. The Overton window has shifted.

Having said this I think it is a mistake to ban Trump from social media sites, and to close the Parlor App. I believe free speech, however obnoxious, unless promoting violence, is the right of citizens in any healthy democracy.

I think it’s better to challenge those whose views we find unacceptable or even dangerous, than have them promoting such ideas under the radar without opposition or scrutiny.

I understand where you're coming from Greeneyedgirl. These days, social media is international and whole sites would need to be blocked. Even in China, people manage to access forbidden sites.

There are enough people around who will no doubt see people who have been banned from certain media as martyrs. They won't be shocked that Conservative MPs have participated because they already share their views.

I don't believe anybody has the right to free speech without accepting the consequences. It's not some kind of natural law, as some libertarians claim. The answer would be to build a more robust alternative.

GagaJo

I am a bit shocked at Gove. I know he is a t**t (almost all teachers hate him for decimating UK education) but I didn't have him down for a fascist or a white supremacist.

I don't think he is either, but from what I know Parler was billed as a site allowing unmoderated free speech, not as a white supremacist, fascist site.

I agree GS, but given some of the elements on there, surely they could have deduced that? I assume MPs must be of reasonable intelligence, to be able to do the job. The presence of Katie Hopkins alone should have indicated that.

I do wonder if there were some secret directive to get them to join up in order to toady up to Trump for post Brexit trade contacts/deals.

Ooh. What a suspicious mind you have GagaJo .

One of them is my MP and apparently it is FINE because twitter is far left....

I only ever watch goat videos on twitter in all honesty and had never heard of the other. I am really pissed off though that my MP has so much time for social media yet can't even respond to jeopardies of our constituents EVER even if they are on the 'correct' voting side

I'm curious. What are goat videos?

there are loads on there but the Llandudno goats are super

One of them is my MP and apparently it is FINE because twitter is far left....

What they mean is that on twitter anyone can read your tweets and (until recently) reply to them. So they get flamed.

Parler seems to be a nice far rightwing bubble.

It's back up again apparently.

Twitter is whatever you want it to be, but well known people, Right, Left or Centre, are vulnerable to positively vile comments.

'A WHOIS search indicates that Parler is now hosted by Epik. Parler last week registered its domain with the Washington-based hosting provider known for hosting far-right extremist content, though Epik denied in a statement that the two companies had been in touch.'

www.businessinsider.fr/us/parler-website-is-back-online-2021-1

Those in the public eye should always be aware of the company they keep.