The new social media created by former President Donald Trump’s company, Truth Social, looks set to launch on Apple’s App Store on Monday (21/2). Reuters saw some posts an executive uploaded as a test. The developments will mark the former president’s return to social media on Monday (21/2) which is President’s Day in the US.
Truth Social is a product of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) led by former Republican member of the House of Representatives Devin Nunes. Social media will follow several other technology companies, such as Gettr, Parler and Rumble, which position themselves as fighters for freedom of expression. They hope to attract the attention of users who feel not free on today’s social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
But so far, none has been able to match the popularity of mainstream social media.
“This week we’re going to start releasing it on the Apple App Store. That would be awesome, because there’s going to be a lot of people who will be using the platform,” said Nunes at Fox News on Sunday (20/2).
“Our target, which we think we can achieve, is by the end of March we will be fully operational, at least in the United States,” he added.
Earlier, in a series of uploads late Friday (18/2), a verified account belonging to the network’s chief product officer, Billy B., answered several questions from users who were invited to test out the app.
The executive said, “We will release it on the Apple App Store on Monday 21 February.”
The launch would restore Trump’s presence on social media, more than a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters, after he was accused of posting messages that incited violence. [vm/pp]