Donal Trump has announced the launch of his new social media platform called TRUTH Social. The former President has been talking about creating his own social network since he got banned from using his Twitter, Facebook and Google accounts. TRUTH Social app will be launched through a new company formed by a merger of the Trump Media and Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp, listed on the Nasdaq, its official statement reveals.
Why is Trump creating a new social platform?
Social media played a vital role in Trump’s presidency campaign for the White House and was his favourite point of communication as president. However, after inappropriate use of Twitter and promoting violence via his tweets, the President was banned from using his Twitter account, along with other social platforms. Last year Twitter and Facebook deleted some of his posts or labelled them as misleading, such as one in which he said that Covid-19 was “less lethal” than the flu.
On the 6th of January, Trump’s supporters organised a riot in the US Capitol building, in an attempt to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election after Biden won. This resulted in many injured and several people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Responding to the riots, Trump called the participants “patriots” on his Twitter account and showed no sign of accepting his loss at the elections. Two days after, on the 8th of January, Twitter announced that they had imposed the ban on his account “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Trump is currently also restricted from using all Facebook and Google’s platforms. Facebook has decided to suspend Trump from using its platform until at least 2023. The social network would then “look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded.” YouTube has said it would lift Trump’s suspension from its platform when the “risk of violence has decreased.”
In an answer to his ban, the former president sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, alleging censorship and First Amendment violations, even though the First Amendment applies to the government, not to private companies like social media platforms. Trump has claimed without evidence that the companies discriminate against the right, which they have denied. Earlier in October, he asked a US district judge to grant a preliminary injunction that would reactivate his account while his lawsuit against Twitter is still going.
A push back against Big Tech?
The former President and his advisers have been hinting at plans to establish a rival social media site for some time and have long railed against so-called Big Tech “censorship”.
“I created Truth Social and TMGT to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” Trump said in the press release sent to the media. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American president has been silenced.”
“I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech,” Trump said. “Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!”
TRUTH Social claims it will be a place that “encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.” And yet, its terms of service forbids users from using the platform to “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site.”
Another outstanding question is what role the site might play if Trump decides to run for president again in 2024 and whether it would serve as a big enough megaphone when he no longer has the immediate influence he had on Twitter.
When can users join the new social media platform?
The social platform has been in works in the past few months and it is almost ready for its launch. The Trump Media and Technology Group, which made the announcement, said that they will launch a limited beta version of the social platform in November, with a bigger rollout expected in the first quarter of 2022.
The website of TRUTH Social is already live on the internet and people can join a waiting list for the social platform and preorder it on the iOS mobile app. The prototypes of the app suggest that TRUTH will have profile pages and timeline of posts similar to those of Twitter.
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