‘Truth Social’ Blocked From Google App Store As Trump Woes Intensify

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Truth Social, the alternative social media site developed by former President Donald Trump’s team, is unavailable in the Google app store — known as the Google Play store — amid violations of the store’s policies for moderating user-generated content on available apps.

It’s yet to go live. “On Aug. 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated 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,” Google said, per Axios. “Last week Truth Social wrote back acknowledging our feedback and saying that they are working on addressing these issues.” According to a source for the publication, concerns at Google include physical threats and incitement to violence possibly contained within the Trump-aligned app. The man who recently sought to force his way into an FBI office in Ohio after agents conducted a raid of Mar-a-Lago in connection to an ongoing criminal investigation into the handling of government records from Trump’s administration was an avid user of Truth Social. The individual responsible for the assault fired a nail gun and was eventually killed by police after a lengthy stand-off.

Google previously removed Parler, another right-wing social media site, from its app store in connection to concerns similar to those cited with Truth Social. Individuals who use Android phones can still access Truth Social on their mobile devices via going to the platform’s website. In contrast, the app is available through the Apple app store. Devin Nunes, who chairs the Trump company behind the app, mischaracterized the situation regarding Truth Social going up on the Google Play store — or not — during a recent podcast appearance. In the right-wing interview released August 26, Nunes remarked: “When are we going to be available on Android? Well, look, that’s up to the Google Play store. We’re waiting on them to approve us, I don’t know what’s taking so long.”

Trump originally wasn’t really using the site, despite the effort poured into it by his team, but he now posts on Truth Social on a regular basis in a manner similar to the way he previously posted on Twitter, from which he was banned for inciting the Capitol violence. The Trump Media & Technology Group, which is behind Truth Social, has a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) in the works, but it’s yet to materialize amid issues including federal investigations, including one at the Justice Department, focusing on areas including potentially illegal negotiations between the Trump company and DWAC about the planned merger before the latter went public. DWAC would take Trump’s company public, allowing it access to massive troves of financing, if the deal is successful. This year, subpoenas went out to DWAC, the Trump company, and all then-members of the DWAC board. DWAC is looking to extend the original deadline for finalizing the merger by a year, highlighting some of the issues.