Since Wednesday, October 12, Donald Trump’s social network, Truth Social, can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. Launched in the United States in February on Apple’s App Store, the application was previously not available on Google’s mobile application store due to insufficient content moderation, explained, in August, a spokesperson for the tech giant.
Google has told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Truth Social has finally agreed to update its app to ensure its policy on removing messages inciting violence is enforced.
To be distributed on Google Play Store, the programs “must comply with our Publisher Guidelines, including the requirement to effectively moderate content posted by third parties and to remove objectionable posts such as those that incite violence”recalled a spokesperson.
Truth Social aims to be an alternative to the major social networks, – Twitter in particular -, from which Donald Trump has been suspended since the beginning of January 2021, with freedom of expression as a leitmotif and minimal content moderation.
“It’s been a pleasure working with Google, and we’re thrilled they’ve helped us finally bring Truth Social to all Americans, no matter what device they use”, reacted Shannon Devine of MZ Group, which manages public relations for Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social. TMTG had already welcomed last week the admission of truth Social on the Samsung application store in the United States, the Galaxy Store.
In 89th position of “social network” applications on the App Store
Google had explained that it had informed Truth Social of “several breaches” application store policies. The Californian group said it had “again stated that having effective user-generated content moderation systems in place was a condition [nécessaire] for an app to be uploaded to Google Play ». According to a spokesperson for the group, Truth Social responded to this letter by assuring “work on these issues”.
Unlike the iPhone’s iOS, Google’s Android operating system for smartphones allows a user to download an app through other channels than their own app store. However, the store remains the preferred interface for users of an Android phone, which represent the overwhelming majority of smartphones in the world. On the Apple App Store, Truth Social arrives in 89e position in the “social networks” category.
TMTG has also been slow for months to finalize its merger with a listed vehicle, Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), which should allow it to enter the stock market and receive fresh money in the process. DWAC’s stock rose nearly 9% in electronic trading after the New York Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday.
The QAnon Nebula
Excluded from major platforms, Donald Trump only found a fraction of his followers on Truth Social. He is currently followed there by 4.18 million people, compared to 88.8 million on Twitter and 35.4 million on Facebook before his ouster for encouraging his supporters during the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which had made several deaths.
The social network is used in particular by fans of the QAnon nebula to relay their conspiracy theories linking, for example, personalities from the American Democratic Party like Hillary Clinton to a satanist and pedophile network.
NewsGuard, which rates news sources based on their trustworthiness, found 88 accounts sharing QAnon content with more than 10,000 followers on Truth Social, more than half of whom were “certified”and more than a third had been banned from Twitter.