Truth Social, Trump's infamous social media app, is now available on the Google Play Store after it was unable to get listed on the platform due to inadequate content moderation policies back in August 2022. Google claimed that the app lacked effective systems for moderation and prohibition of specific user-generated content (UGC) like physical threats and incitement to violence.
According to a Google spokesperson:
On Aug. 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play.
Notably, the app was not banned or restricted on the Apple App Store and is still available to download.
Google says that apps that host UGC are required to have several content moderation policies to prevent illegal content. It also requires apps to report such actionable content and users, and a system to take actions against them. It took around two months for Truth Social to update its policies after which it was finally approved on the Play Store.
The platform, which is owned by the Trump Media and Technology Group, also worked on several workarounds to make its app available to Android users. It allowed users to side-load its app and also listed it on the Samsung Galaxy Store.
The app was created as a "free speech" alternative to Twitter after the social media company banned Donald Trump on the platform for inciting violence. Reportedly, Elon Musk has also expressed his desire to unban Trump from Twitter if and when he acquires Twitter.
Source: Axios
104 Comments - Add comment