The Disgraced Parler CEO Announced His Own Termination. Is This a New 'Thing?' A get-out-ahead-of-the-story memo by former CEO John Matze spurred a media frenzy, but it's unlikely the decision will play out well in his best interest, or the company's.

As we prepared to advise an agency client, one of my partners forwarded a story to me: "Parler CEO John Matze Announces His Termination."

"Is announcing your own termination a new thing?" she asked. "And is it wise?"

In the case in question, the Parler social media application known for "free speech" — particularly the kind labeled as hate speech by bigger platforms like Facebook and Twitter — has gone virtually dark after being cut off by major service providers including Amazon, Apple and Google, who said the site failed to moderate content that contributed to the recent attacks on the U.S. Capitol.