Former US president Donald Trump has launched his new social media platform Truth Social, with the app encountering difficulties almost immediately.
Truth Social arrived in Apple’s App Store yesterday (February 21) and many users weren’t able to use the app, but instead were immediately added to a waitlist “due to massive demand”.
“You’re not just another number to us,” a message on the app read, before users were assigned a number. It’s unclear how long users will remain on the waitlist.
Truth Social had previously been made available to about 500 beta testers, as the BBC reports. Last week, congressional representatives like Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who are supporters of Trump, were able to use the app and report bugs.
This press release reporters are getting is legit – confirmed to me by sources close to former President Trump. He is launching a media company with a social media platform called “TRUTH Social”. pic.twitter.com/b417jq6Xkd
— John Santucci (@Santucci) October 21, 2021
The app is described as having similarities to Twitter, but tweets and retweets have been labelled “truths” and “retruths”.
Developed by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the new platform is described as “America’s ‘Big Tent’” social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology”.
It was announced last year as a “rival to the liberal media consortium” that plans on fighting back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley, “which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America”.
However, as a user of the site you must “agree not to disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the site,” the terms of service for Trump’s new platform read.
Last year, Trump was banned from Twitter after encouraging his supporters to storm the US Capitol building on January 6, telling them to “walk down to the Capitol” because “you will never take back our country with weakness”.
In other news, Trump recently performed his debut DJ set for guests at his Mar-A-Lago resort.
According to New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman, a notice was sent out to members of the club announcing two dinner events. “Great music will be played during dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, with President Trump playing the role of disc jockey,” the memo read.