Truth Social NOT approved on Google store due to of lack of moderation

Posted on : August 30, 2022

Trump’s Truth Social has NOT been approved on Android or Google Play stores because of insufficient ‘content moderation’

  • Donald Trump’s Truth Social app is still not on the Google Play Store because it claims there is not enough content moderation on the platform 
  • The application launched on the Apple App Store in February and, at one point, was No. 1 on the list of top downloaded applications
  • Trump created his alternative social media platform after Twitter booted him from the platform following the January 6 Capitol riot 
  • Almost every tweet Trump sent in the final weeks of his presidency were marked with warnings that the posts contained ‘disputed’ or ‘misleading’ claims 

Donald Trump’s social media platform hasn’t been approved for download on Android devices yet because of the applications lack of content moderation.

Truth Social was made available for download on the Apple App Store in February, but an Alphabet Inc spokesperson said the insufficient moderation has kept it from being approved for the Google Play store, according to Axios.

While Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes say the decision to make Truth Social available on Android devices is ‘up to Google’, the company has put the onus on the platform.

‘I don’t know what’s taking them so long,’ Nunes said.

Alphabet said it sent a notification to Truth Social on August 19 stating the platform is in ‘several violations of standard policies in their current app submission.’

Google noted 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.’

‘Last week Truth Social wrote back acknowledging our feedback and saying that they are working on addressing these issues,’ Google said, according to Axios.

Donald Trump’s Truth Social app is still not on the Google Play Store because parent company Alphabet Inc. claims there is not enough content moderation on the platform

The application launched on the Apple App Store in February

The delay in getting Truth Social onto the Google Play store marks a significant setback for the app, which launched in the Apple App Store on February 21.

At one point after launching, the app reached the No. 1 spot on the list of most downloaded applications – and at least 3 million people have downloaded Truth Social. 

Android phones comprise about 40 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. Without the Google and Apple stores, there is no easy way for many smartphone users to download Truth Social.

Truth Social restored Trump’s presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook and Alphabet’s YouTube following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.

TMTG has pledged to deliver an ‘engaging and censorship-free experience’ on Truth Social, appealing to a base that feels its views around such hot-button topics in American life as vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream tech platforms.

TMTG is working with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that does AI-based content moderation, to flag sexually explicit content, hate speech, bullying and violent content on the app.

Human moderators decide what to do with the content Hive has flagged. While the scope of TMTG´s human moderation efforts is unclear, according to a posting on the TMTG website, the company is hiring a ‘community content administrator’ whose job will include reviewing ‘user-posted content on Truth Social verifying it adheres to established community guidelines.’

Trump created his alternative social media platform after Twitter booted him from the platform following the January 6 Capitol riot. The indefinite suspension came after multiple warnings of rule violations where Trump pushed claims the 2020 election was stolen

Almost every tweet Trump sent in the final weeks of his presidency were marked with warnings that they contained ‘disputed’ or ‘misleading’ claims

Trump’s social media platform is facing a plethora of issues, including with its merger, efforts to obtain a trademark and accumulating a significant debt sheet.

TMTG is planning to go public via a merger with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. But the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are investigating the merger, according to DWAC filings.

Truth Social owes $1.6 million to web hosting service RightForce, with people familiar with the dispute claiming the former president’s platform hasn’t made payments since March.

Now RightForge is preparing to take legal action, according to Fox Business.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) also refused Trump’s application for Truth Social this month, finding two other companies have similar names and the trademark grant would create a ‘likelihood of confusion.’

The patent office said the name of the company was too similar to Vero – True Social, an app-based social media platform, and the Truth Network, a Christian radio broadcast network.

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