Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed later this year, weren’t disclosed.

“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” Mr. West said in the press release disclosed by Parlement Technologies. 

Mr. West didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment beyond the press release.

Launched in 2018, Parler has attracted millions of users by pitching itself as “free speech

Twitter

alternative.” Several of its users had been banned by other large social networks, including Alex Jones, the far-right talk-show host and conspiracy theorist, and supporters of the Proud Boys.

The platform came under heavy scrutiny in 2021 for serving as a hub for people alleged to have organized the Jan. 6 riot at U.S. Capitol and participated in it.

Afterward,

Apple Inc.

and Google-parent

Alphabet Inc.

removed Parler from their mobile-app stores, and

Amazon.com Inc.

stopped providing Parler with web-hosting services, forcing it offline for weeks. The major tech companies said Parler had broken their rules by failing to have an adequate content-moderation system in place.

Parler sued Amazon in Seattle federal court, alleging that Amazon Web Services kicked the company off its cloud servers for political and anticompetitive reasons. The company said Parler was suspended for not removing violent content that violated AWS’s terms of service. The case is ongoing.

Parler resumed operations online by signing up with a different cloud provider. It was reinstated on the App Store in May 2021 after agreeing to add technology to detect violent content or incitements to violence. It returned to Google Play last month after agreeing to modify some of its content-moderation policies and enforcement.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Parlement will continue to provide Parler with web-hosting and other services. The company recently completed a fundraising round for $16 million, bringing the total amount raised to $56 million. Parlement also recently acquired Dynascale Inc., a provider of cloud services with around 50,000 square feet of data center space in the U.S.  

In an interview Monday, Parler Chief Executive

George Farmer

said the deal “further advances the goal of Parlement becoming the plumbing of the internet.” 

As for Mr. West, he added, “This is a very attractive solution to his issues of being censored.”

Mr. West has been enmeshed in controversy over his public messaging and social media, including earlier this month when he appeared at his Yzy fashion show in Paris wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt.

The phrase, an inversion of “Black Lives Matter”—the movement that, among other things, aims to restrict police use of force and transfer police funding to other services—is often used by white supremacist groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. West has also been critical of major Silicon Valley social-media companies. Earlier this month, Twitter Inc. locked his account after the musician and designer posted an anti-Semitic tweet.

Mr. West’s Instagram account has also been locked over a post that violated company policy, according to a spokesperson for Instagram parent

Meta Platforms Inc.

Both Twitter and Instagram have policies that prohibit the posting of offensive language, among other restrictions.

Mr. West’s corporate sponsorships also have recently come under scrutiny. Adidas AG said it decided to place its partnership with Mr. West under review, putting in doubt an arrangement that has produced the popular Yeezy collection of sneakers.

Last month, Gap Inc. said it was winding down its partnership with Mr. West, saying he and the company were “not aligned” in how they work together, according to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Farmer said discussions with Mr. West of a deal for Parler began casually when his wife

Candace Owens,

an American conservative author and commentator, attended Mr. West’s fashion show in Paris. 

Ms. Owens, who also wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt at the event, had a conversation with Mr. West about the social-media landscape and the notion of Mr. West buying Parler evolved from there, he said.  

Going forward, Mr. Farmer said that whether or not Parler will allow the kind of speech that got Mr. West locked out of Twitter and Instagram isn’t his decision. He said he would remain CEO of Parlement when the deal closes but he will no longer be in charge of Parler.

Mr. Farmer said Mr. West will take over Parler’s operations and that he will assist with the transition.  

Write to Gareth Vipers at gareth.vipers@wsj.com