Parler wants an apology from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg after a report said the FBI found little evidence the Capitol riot was a coordinated attack

• Sheryl Sandberg said she thought the Capitol attack was planned on platforms other than Facebook.
• A new Reuters report said the FBI found scant evidence the attack was an organized plot.
• Parler is now asking for an apology from Sandberg and others who it says used it as a scapegoat.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Parler is owed an apology, according to its CEO George Farmer.

The “free speech” social media app that became a favorite of conservatives said in a statement provided to Insider that it was mistreated after the January 6 Capitol riot.

The statement came after a report published by Reuters on Friday said the FBI did not find evidence that the attack on the Capitol was the result of a pre-planned, organized plot. The outlet cited four current and former law enforcement officials.

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“In other words,” according to Parler, “there is no evidence justifying the rush to judgment and accusations by many-including, notably, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg-that the events of January 6 were the results of deliberate coordination conducted on up-and-coming social media platforms Parler and Gab.”

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in an interview days after the riot that Facebook was not used to plan the attack, and pointed to smaller platforms like Parler and Gab.

“I think these events were largely organized on platforms that don’t have our abilities to stop hate, don’t have our standards and don’t have our transparency,” Sandberg said.

Farmer said the Reuters report showed Parler and Gab were “unjustly scapegoated.”

“As we told Congress earlier this year, while we did not see any evidence of coordination on Parler, we did see, in the weeks leading up to January 6, an increase in the amount of violent and inciting content,” Farmer said.

“We are owed an apology from everyone who rushed to judgment about Parler-but especially from our competitors and service providers who should have known better. From some, perhaps, financial restitution might be in order.”

Facebook did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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