Parlement Technologies, the parent company of “censorship-free” social media platform Parler, has laid off a majority of its staff and most of its chief executives over the last few weeks. The sudden purge of staff has thrown the future of Parler, one of the first conservative alternatives to mainstream platforms, into question.

Parlement Technologies began laying off workers in late November, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. These layoffs continued through at least the end of December, when around 75 percent of staffers were let go in total, leaving approximately 20 employees left working at both Parler and the parent-company’s cloud services venture. A majority of the company’s executives, including its chief technology, operations, and marketing officers, have also been laid off, according to a source familiar with the matter.

George Farmer, husband to conservative influencer Candace Owens, is the current CEO of Parlement Technologies, Parler’s parent company. Farmer replaced Parler’s former CEO, John Matze, in May 2021, shortly after the app was unbanned from app stores. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in February 2021, Matze said he was ousted for his desire to reshape the platform’s moderation policies.

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