Right-wing social media app Parler accidentally included the email addresses of more than 200 verified users — including those belonging to Ivanka Trump and Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
Executives at Parler sent out an email on Monday to hundreds of its verified users and investors, but accidentally cc’d the addressees rather than using a bcc, which would have concealed their email addresses.
Right-wing media figures Andy Ngo and Candace Owens also had their emails revealed in the message.
One Twitter user who received the message claimed the email chain quickly filled with replies from users pushing their various products and sharing far-right talking points, including racial slurs.
According to Mashable, the COO of Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, sent a follow up email to VIPs apologising for the mistake.
“Earlier today, we shared with you news about Ye’s intent to purchase Parler. In the excitement, we inadvertently included your email address in the CC field instead of the BCC field," he said. "To say we’re highly embarrassed is an understatement.”
This isn’t the first time Parler users have had their personal information fall into the hands of others. Following the Capitol riot, hackers found an exploit in the social media platform allowing them to access all of the metadata on the sites posts and social media content. The content included GPS coordinates for the users, including who was posting from the Capitol the day of the attack.
On top of Parler’s email mix-up, the social media platform is also making headlines after it was reported that rapper Kanye West agreed to purchase the site.
West has been busy making antisemitic remarks on social media and in podcast and television interviews and talking up his newfound friendship with right-wing provocateur Candace Owens.
Parler shared the news in a press release on Monday saying West’s purchase would "further lead the fight to create a truly non-cancelable environment."
The platform, like other right-wing social media sites like Donald Trump’s Truth Social and Gab, claims to champion free speech above all else and has tried to position itself as an alternative to mainstream social titans like Twitter and Facebook, which have more stringent community standards.
However, Comscore data collected by right-wing media tracker TheRighting suggests that Parler has very little traffic when compared to Truth Social and Gab, which themselves pale in comparison to Twitter and Facebook.
