Former President Donald Trump has revealed that Truth Social, the new social network created by the Trump Media & Technology Group, has arrived on iOS to download.
The app recently opened to around 500 beta testers, most of whom exist in the MAGA sphere already. A spokesperson told Reuters that Truth Social is planning to launch today, Monday 21, which also happens to be Presidents' Day.
"What makes Truth Social different!?" the app description asks. "We are a social media platform that is free from political discrimination. Join us and share, communicate, and have fun!"
The app looks much like other social networks, with profiles, a main feed, likes and reposts, and so on. You could even say it looks almost identical to Twitter. The main difference is that posts are called Truths. An executive told users that verified profiles and direct messages are coming later.
The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth
Setting aside the irony of Donald Trump, a man famously at odds with the truth, launching a social network called Truth Social, the journey to getting here has been interesting.
The Trump Media & Technology Group, which is listed as the developer of the app, is led by former GOP Representative Devin Nunes, famous for suing a cow on Twitter and losing.
"This week we will begin to roll out on the Apple App Store. That's going to be awesome, because we're going to get so many more people that are going to be on the platform," said Nunes on Fox News recently. "Our goal is, I think we're going to hit it, I think by the by the end of March we're going to be fully operational at least within the United States."
One of the interesting quandaries facing Truth Social will be content moderation. Trump was famously banned for inciting a riot at the Capitol as Biden was confirmed as president.
Parler, a similar right-wing social network, has had difficulties with Apple and Google. Apple removed the app for several months due to weak policies over removing offensive and illegal content. It seems reasonable to assume that Truth Social will run into the same issues without a robust mechanism for removing content.
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