Parler and GETTR used Facebook's major outage to hit out at Big Tech, while urging others to join their right-wing social media platforms.
Facebook is back up and running after going down for several hours on Monday, with the company saying the issue was down to a faulty configuration change.
Twitter accounts for Parler and GETTR have mocked Facebook over the issues which left millions unable to use the site, plus Facebook subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp.
"While Big Tech imploded, @GETTROfficial was going strong! There's a reason #GETTR is the fastest growing social media platform in history...," the GETTR account tweeted to its 27,000 followers.
"Free Speech. Superior Technology. It's time to cancel 'Cancel Culture.'"
Despite its boasts, a number of other social media users noted that GETTR, set up by Jason Miller, former senior advisor to Donald Trump, got hacked on the first day it went live on July 4.
This doesn’t happen at #GETTR! https://t.co/KcCNTaGx7Y
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) October 4, 2021
Parler's Twitter account, meanwhile, tweeted: "Imagine, if you will, an outage so bad that your team - no matter how talented - is helpless. Six hours... that's nothing."
The tweet was posted along with a "we will not be cancelled" hashtag.
Parler was taken offline for several weeks after it was linked to the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack.
Since FB and IG are down... nows a good time to join me on @GETTRofficial.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) October 4, 2021
Don't be dumb... go set up an account while you've been freed from those other platforms. pic.twitter.com/ZkXVmUzzmL
Elsewhere, conservative figures tweeted that people should follow them on other "free speech" apps which are not owned by Facebook.
"It's time to join GETTR. And Parler. And the video platform Rumble," wrote pundit and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D'Souza.
"These are free speech platforms that don't attempt to censor legitimate arguments or rig the political debate. Please follow me at all three."
Chuck Callesto, former candidate for Florida's 3rd congressional district who has frequently shared misinformation on Twitter about COVID-19 and the 2020 Election, added: "There is Parler.. There is Gettr.. There is Gab.. There is Me We, There is Free Space, and so many more.
"Who CHALLENGES Facebook Supremacy? All of the above, none or something that does it all?"
#PARLER
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 4, 2021
Join @parler_app
It wasn't just right-wing figures who criticized Facebook and its dominance of online platforms after it went down and caused havoc across the world.
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for Facebook to be broken up and regulated, arguing that the way it resulted in hundreds of millions of people around the word being unable to access WhatsApp shows the "incredibly destructive effects on free society and democracy" such a centralized internet service has.
She added: "Remember: WhatsApp wasn't created by Facebook. It was an independent success. FB got scared & bought it.
"If Facebook's monopolistic behavior was checked back when it should've been (perhaps around the time it started acquiring competitors like Instagram), the continents of people who depend on WhatsApp & IG for either communication or commerce would be fine right now. Break them up."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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