What is Truth Social?
FORMER President Donald Trump has been attempting to get back on social media since his permanent ban from Twitter.
Trump, who argued with big tech over his ban, decided to take matters into his own hands and launch his own social platform.
What is Truth Social?
According to an announcement posted on Twitter by spokeswoman Liz Harrington in October 2021, Trump said he was creating his own platform called Truth Social, claiming that it would "stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech".
Trump said in a statement: "We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American president has been silenced."
The company will be registered under Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), according to a press release.
When does Truth Social launch?
Truth Social is now available for pre-order on the Apple App Store.
But those who downloaded it on its launch on Sunday, February 20, 2022, came across errors.
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A message on the app read: “Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waiting list.”
The app's website also ran into technical difficulties shortly after launching.
Devin Nunes, Truth Social’s CEO, told Fox News on Sunday, February 20, 2022, that the app would be “fully operational” by the end of March.
In a press release prior to the launch, Trump said that TMTG was “founded with a mission to give a voice to all”.
The former president also added that he “is excited to send out my first Truth on Truth Social very soon”.
The news of Truth Social’s release comes after Trump’s team launched conservative social platform GETTR back in July 2021.
GETTR claims its mission is to “promote common sense...challenge social media monopolies, and create a true marketplace of ideas.”
After Trump’s former aide Jason Miller released GETTR, Trump put out a statement denouncing being associated with the app and wrote: "I am not on any social media platform in any way, shape, or form, including Parler, GETTR, Gab, etc.
"When I decide to choose a platform, or build or complete my own, it will be announced. Thank you!"
Will Truth Social be able to compete with major social media apps?
Experts say Truth Social will not be able to stand up to the mainstream social media sites, according to Time Magazine.
Trump's goal of targeting a certain demographic is what will prevent the social platform from reaching the same heights as Facebook and Twitter, experts say.
The co-director of NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics, Joshua Tucker, said, "The more people who join, the more value (these sites) provide. That’s a fundamental premise of social media.
“So when you start out by lopping off (a large percentage) of the population, that gets more challenging because it’s harder to scale. And that’s especially the case when there are alternatives out there that have don’t have the same limitations as you.”
The target audience will be those who do not want to be censored when posting politically-sensitive comments or misinformation.
While the site will ban nudity, violence, hate speech, and bullying, it will allow anyone's opinions, whether based in fact or not, to be posted.
Nunes told Fox News: "We're not going to censor anybody because they have a different opinion about, for example, a Covid vaccine.
"That is what the open internet is all about—it should be for the free flow of debate and ideas all over the globe, so that people can learn from one another and debate with one another."
What did Trump say about Twitter?
In early June 2021, Trump praised Nigeria for banning Twitter in the country and expressed remorse for not thinking of doing the same - but said he'll get another chance in a potential 2024 run.
At the time of his ban in January 2021, Trump said he predicted that Twitter would try to silence him and that the company would not exist for long if it were not for Section 230, which protects websites from lawsuits if users post illegal content.
He said he has been negotiating with "various other sites" and would have a "big announcement soon," and possibly build his own platform.
In the since-deleted @POTUS tweet, Trump claimed that "Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me" and the "75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me.
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Trump tweeted: "We will not be SILENCED! Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH.
"They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most viscous people in the world are allowed to speak freely."
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