The launch of Donald Trump’s new social network on Sunday evening was marred by technical problems and a degree of controversy. A small British company is now casting doubt on possible legal action against the former American president, whom it accuses of having plagiarized his logo to create the visual identity of Truth Social.
Available on iOS in the United States, the app was launched nearly a year after Donald Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram following the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. He is accused of inciting his supporters to violence.
It was only a few minutes after launching the application thata user pointed out the resemblance marked between its logo and that of the British company Trailar, which installs solar panels on the roofs of commercial vehicles.
“It’s great to see Donald Trump supporting a growing sustainability business! Maybe we should ask next time? “, reacted not without irony the company on Twitter, indicating at the same time to seek the number of a lawyer.
Other users have noted the strong resemblance of Truth Social’s interface to that of Twitter, wondering if Donald Trump was not also at risk of being sued by the blue bird network.
Several elements of the new application are effectively reminiscent of Twitter functions, such as the certification badge — blue on Twitter, red on Truth Social — the retweet button, called ReTruthor the subscription system.
With Truth Social, the ex-president wants to guarantee a space for discussion “in the spirit of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, for free-thinking and the possibility of freely sharing one’s ideas”, can we read in the “community rules” of the platform.
What sets Truth Social apart from other apps? Its “chronological feed”, which displays posts not according to a performance-based algorithm, but “in the order of publication”. One way not to “artificially delete user content, unlike other social networks,” says Truth Social on its website.
Many technical problems
These accusations of plagiarism are not the only events that have colored the launch of the social network. The application and its website have experienced numerous technical problems.
The application is today at the top of downloads on the American App Store. Unable to meet this demand, Truth Social said it had to “restrict access” for new users.
So far, only people who pre-ordered the app from the App Store have been able to download it. An Android version is in development, and the boss of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the social network’s parent company, estimates that Truth Social will be “fully operational” by the end of March.
Among the limited number of users who were able to download the application, several received an error message prevent you from creating an account. At the time these lines were written, more than 157,000 people were on the waiting list.
On the other hand, several political figures, who had access to the social network before the hour, were able to create a profile. This is the case of the elected Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, familiar with conspiracy theories, who published Sunday screenshots of his first messages on TruthSocial. Donald Trump has reserved the same name he used on Twitter, @realDonaldTrump.
With Agence France-Presse