JAKARTA - Just a few more weeks before the target launch, Truth Social, the new social media created by Donald Trump, is still trying to strike a balance between the purpose of this application and the requirements in the application store.
This social media is expected to give the former US president's base of supporters the freedom to express themselves, without violating app store policies at Apple and Google.
The launch of Truth Social comes a year after the former US president was banned from using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It will be a major test of whether Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and other tech companies that describe themselves as free speech heroes can match the "freedom gatekeeper" stance of Silicon Valley, which conservatives accuse of stifling free expression.
TMTG has promised to provide an "exciting and censorship-free experience" on its Truth Social app. This is particularly appealing to Trump's base of supporters who feel his views on hot topics in American life such as vaccines and the 2020 presidential election results have been scrapped. from mainstream technology platforms.
But Trump's tech team had to erect a safety fence to ensure Truth Social wasn't removed from app stores run by Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. That fateful fate befell the popular conservative app, Parler, after the January 6, 2021, riots at the US Capitol. Without these shops, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download apps.
The risk of such "de-platforming" was a top priority for TMTG Chief Executive Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, when his team created the app. Realizing that apps would be a prime target for hackers from day one, Nunes wanted to have cyber talent at the "nation-state level." Nunes has said publicly that the company's goal is to launch the Truth Social app by the end of March.
As reported by Reuters, until now TMTG remains shrouded in secrecy and is considered skeptical by some technology and media circles. Two conservative media executives pointed to the apparent failure of the attempt to launch the beta service in November, as originally planned.
"Nobody approached me or my team," said one conservative media insider. "Trump has always been part of his own island."
TMTG's mission to fight Big Tech is limited by its reliance on Google and Apple, which operate app stores that dominate the smartphone market. TMTG works with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that conducts AI-based content moderation, to flag sexually explicit content, hate speech, intimidation, and violent content. The partnership was driven in part by TMTG's desire for the Truth Social app to remain on the Apple App and Google Play store.
"Truth Social will require strong content moderation in the form of automated detection and face-to-face teams, as well as a way for users to report offensive posts," said David Thiel, big data architect and chief technology officer at the Stanford Internet Observatory.
"What's going to be difficult is if they're in a situation like Parler's, where they have such a level of hate speech that hosting services and possibly the App Store are starting to take notice," Thiel said.
Truth Social apps must comply with Apple's App Store rules that require developers to offer a way for users to report offensive content and provide a "timely response". The rules also prohibit content that "incites violence" or "depictions that encourage the illegal or reckless use of weapons and dangerous objects."
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