Politico: “Dozens of Republican lawmakers have joined the social media site Parler as GOP tensions with Twitter and other major tech platforms mount, but so have hordes of fake accounts claiming to belong to conservative politicians.”
“At least 32 GOP members of Congress have set up accounts on Parler, with a vast majority doing so in recent weeks and even days, according to a POLITICO review confirmed by lawmaker offices. They include at least three senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah — and a slew of big tech critics in the House, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Devin Nunes of California, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Ken Buck of Colorado.”
“Conservative politicians have turned to the platform, which bills itself as an ‘unbiased’ substitute for the likes of Facebook and Twitter, as they escalate their feud with Silicon Valley over allegations that social media companies stifle viewpoints on the right. That movement has given Parler’s site — with its crimson theme, minimalist feel and Twitter-like interface — a distinctly conservative bent.”
“But Parler has also seen a sudden uptick in impostor accounts over the past few weeks, with 11 GOP congressional offices telling POLITICO there are new pages on the site wrongly purporting to be their official accounts, including for Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.”