Insufficient moderation is to blame, according to Google. If Truth Social does not make an adequate effort, the app will stay away.
The social network wanted by Donald Trump to free itself from the rules established by other community sites on freedom of expression is definitely struggling to stabilize. The platform, which has experienced controversy and turbulence since its appearance at the end of 2021, has another problem: it is impossible for it to appear on the pages of Google Play.
In question ? The platform does not provide a sufficient level of moderation to be accepted on the Android application store, said a spokesperson quoted by Reuters on August 30. As a result, the Truth Social application – this is the name of the service offered by the former American president – is not authorized to be referenced.
” On August 19, we notified Truth Social of several core rule violations in their app and reaffirmed that having effective user-generated content moderation systems in place is a condition of our Terms. of service so that any application can be on Google Play “said Google.
The difficult beginnings of Truth Social
The lack of moderation on Truth Social echoes a similar problem faced by another service frequented by the American far right, Parler. He claims to offer complete freedom of expression, but in early 2021, Google and Apple demanded that he moderate his content or face exclusion. Amazon also cracked down on Parler, for the same reasons.
Truth Social is however accused of censorship by its members, a sign that there would indeed be moderation, but which would still be too lax. This summer, Internet users of the service denounced the existence of a filter masking by default publications which are considered too sensitive. For some Americans, this is a betrayal of Truth Social’s original promise.
Truth Social was set up with the ambition of being a kind of mirror image of Twitter and Facebook: when these social networks censor, Truth Social lets the word flow freely. But this is not its only problem: its attendance is not at all up to expectations and even Donald Trump is rare there, when it should be an ideal digital platform.
It appears today especially as a nest of worries: it was accused of plagiarism, by taking source code from Mastodon, a decentralized social networking service, without respecting the license (which irritated Mastodon). The dissemination of obscene photos and the appearance of fake accounts impersonating celebrities have also fueled the controversy.