It is well known by now that Donald Trump’s character on the reality TV show, The Apprentice, was exactly that: a character, one performing in a part about a successful businessman. In truth, Trump has experienced a disproportionately (compared to other businesses) high number of bankruptcies, lost more money in a two-decade period than literally any other business in history, and isn’t nearly as wealthy as he claims to be, with the majority of his money coming from an inheritance rather than a successful business empire he claims to have created.
Trump’s long-promised social network, Truth Social, has been almost entirely inaccessible in the first days of its grand debut due to technical glitches, a 13-hour outage and a 300,000-person waitlist. https://t.co/OSBRFCbcfW
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2022
Just like many of his other failed businesses, the much-heralded social media website, Truth Social, is plagued with problems before it has even launched. With billions of dollars worth of investments by other businesses, paid with the promise of a social media company to rival Twitter and Facebook, the page has even been able to have a rollout. Yet, Trump still crows about how successful it’s going to be.
The Washington Post reports that:
‘The site had been heralded for months as the crown jewel of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, with allies pledging it would revolutionize social media and take down the mainstream social networks where Trump is banned.’
Trump’s new social media app, Truth Social, appears in App Store https://t.co/kPgouLZcM6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 21, 2022
The most significant concern with the problems Truth Social has had with their rollout is the potential for security issues. After all, if they’re struggling this badly with just adding users to the platform (there’s an actual waiting list), what kind of ineptness is likely to show up when privacy measures are attempted?
Bill Fitzgerald, who specializes in research around privacy issues, said that:
‘The basic thing they needed to actually get right, to get someone in the door, they couldn’t get right…There is no better sign of a rushed implementation than the fact that you can’t onboard anybody. So I’m hard-pressed to understand why anyone would trust that these people would keep their information safe.’
Whether it’s Truth Social, Facebook or a niche social network, you should take certain precautions when joining any new service.
Here's what you can (and can’t) do to keep your data private. https://t.co/d8WGya9WHY
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2022
Also characteristic of Trump, promises made to users about the “freedom” of Truth Social are just false promises. The site carries just as many restrictions as any other social media company.
‘Although Trump has criticized social networks’ “wildly aggressive censorship,” his site’s “terms of service” mark some extensive restrictions for acceptable speech. People are also forbidden from posting anything “false,” “indecent,” “misleading,” “profane,” “obscene,” “filthy” or “otherwise objectionable.”’
In addition to the Truth Social app mess, NYT & Washington Post published stories w/info in this chart on Trump's social media co partners DWAC and advisor Arc Group
And I'm drafting a chart with more shady ties not yet reported on…the mess is endless🙄https://t.co/yL8e0Qn5zd
— Wendy Siegelman (@WendySiegelman) February 21, 2022
