Trump is still at war with Twitter and Co .: Now the start date for the “alternative” social media app from Trump has been announced.
San Francisco – The storm on the US Capitol in Washington left many injuries and several dead. On January 6th, 2021, suspected supporters stormed the seat of the US Congress: inside of ex-President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, more and more accusations against Trump are loud. The incumbent US President Joe Biden recently declared Trump to be responsible.
In response to the attack on the Capitol, Donald Trump was banned from the social media platforms Twitter, YouTube and Facebook last year (2021), as reported by afp. Like his electoral defeat, Donald Trump did not simply want to accept this. At the end of October 2021, he therefore announced his own social media app called “Truth Social”.
Trump app available soon: “Truth Social” is attacked even before it is published
A date has already been set for the start of the social media app. From February 21, 2022, the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) app will be available for all users in the Apple App Store. The app has been available in a pre-version for selected users since November (2021), according to afp.
Two hours after Trump announced his social media app, hackers attacked the private network, the New York Times reported. The hackers penetrated “Truth Social” and created fake profiles for various people. The attackers named their action as part of their “online war on hatred”. As a result of the attack, the developers at Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) had to temporarily shut down the platform, as the New York Times was able to confirm. In a press release, the Trump company had described the “Truth Social” app as a blow to the “Big Tech” from Silicon Valley, as the finance portal Investing.com writes.
- Hackers created fake profiles for the following people:
- Donald Trump (Ex-US President)
- Stephen K. Bannon (ex-head of right-wing Breitbart News)
- Ron Watkins (conspiracy theorist of the QAnon “movement”)
- Jack Dorsey (Twitter boss who banished Trump)
- Source: New York Times
With an app on the stock exchange: The merger could violate the Securities Act
With the merger of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Corp. the Trump app went public in 2021. At Digital World Acquisition Corp. it is a corporate shell that only exists to help companies go public.
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The Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren had already suggested a review for violations of the securities law in December 2021. It is still unclear whether investigations are currently running in this direction, as reported by The Guardian.
USA: already several “alternative” social media apps on the market
In the US, Trump’s social media platform is not the first of its kind. It joins a front of pro-conservative social media. For example, Trump’s former advisor, Jason Miller, founded the Gettr app in July 2021. For the Twitter alternative from Trump, the market launch could only be the first of three steps, as The Guardian writes.
Accordingly, a video-on-demand service could follow in the second step. Entertainment and news are to be made available under the name TMTG +. A podcast network could follow as a third step. It remains to be seen whether the Trump app can coexist with other “alternative” social media such as Parler, Gab or Gettr. (Lucas Maier)
