Parler CEO Lays Out 5 Rules to Keep From Getting Banned: ‘Posting Pictures of Your Fecal Matter Will Not Be Tolerated’

Parler CEO John Matze laid out five rules on Monday to help users keep from getting banned on his platform, including a rule against “posting pictures of your fecal matter.”

“To the people complaining on Twitter about being banned on Parler. Please pay heed: Here are the very few basic rules we need you to follow on Parler. If these are not to your liking, we apologize, but we will enforce,” Matze wrote in a post on the platform. The first, rule Matze said: “When you disagree with someone, posting pictures of your fecal matter in the comment section WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.”

He said the others included a prohibition on pornography, obscene usernames, spam, and threatening “to kill anyone in the comment section.”

Parler Matze Post

Parler bills itself as a free-speech alternative to Twitter, but does claim to apply broadcast standards defined by the Federal Communications Commission that prohibit obscene content. Matze’s announcement came after some users complained over the weekend about getting banned from the platform. A Twitter used named “Belet_Seri” accused Parler of “abusing pornography laws” for banning them after the user posted an erotic picture, while a Twitter user named Thor Benson complained they were banned for creating an account posing as The Federalist.

The two-year-old platform’s user base exploded last week, climbing by about 500,000 — or 50 percent — after Twitter banned Carpe Donktum, a popular conservative meme creator.

Matze added in his Monday post that users should apply a broad principle to their content, writing, “If ever in doubt, ask yourself if you would say it on the streets of New York or national television.”