(San Francisco) Donald Trump’s social network, Truth Social, can now be downloaded from the Google Play Store, while the internet giant refused it this summer, judging content moderation insufficient on the platform. former US President.
Posted at 5:35 p.m.
Updated at 6:42 p.m.
Google said Wednesday 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’s mobile app store, programs “must comply with our Publisher Guidelines, including requirements to effectively moderate content posted by third parties and to remove objectionable material such as that incite violence,” a spokesperson said.
Launched at the end of February, 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 for leitmotif and a minimum moderation of content.
“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’re using,” said Shannon Devine of MZ Group. who manages public relations for Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social.
“This is a major step in our mission to restore freedom of expression online,” she added in an email to AFP.
TMTG had already welcomed last week the admission of truth Social on the application store of Samsung in the United States, the Galaxy Store.
Content moderation
Google had refused to welcome the platform on its Play Store in August, considering the moderation of content as “insufficient”.
The world’s number one online advertising company explained that it had informed Truth Social of “several violations” of the application store’s regulations.
The Californian group said it had “again indicated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content was a (necessary) condition for an application to be posted on Google Play”.
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 represents the overwhelming majority of smart phones in the world.
On the Apple App Store, where it is present, Truth Social arrives in 89e position in the “social networks” category.
QAnon
TMTG has been waiting 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 thus receive fresh money.
DWAC’s stock rose nearly 9% in electronic trading after the New York Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday.
Excluded from major platforms, Donald Trump found only 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 by their trustworthiness, found 88 accounts sharing QAnon content with more than 10,000 followers on Truth Social, more than half of whom were “verified,” and more than a third had been banned from Twitter.