What can one do to stand up to the tyranny of giant tech companies, register complaints or maximum move to court, unless you are Donald Trump? Last year, the former President of the United States of America Donald Trump was barred from using social media platforms. To give it back to the monopoly of tech giants, Donald Trump has recreated social media. He has launched his own platform named ‘Truth Social’.
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The Monopoly of Tech Giants
The monopoly of Social media giants has been evident in many incidents not only in India but worldwide. The most evident case was of Donald Trump. Last year Twitter permanently banned the ex-US President from using its platform. This was followed by suspension from Facebook and Youtube. Facebook barred him from using its services citing risk to public safety.
He was barred by the platforms after the Capitol Hill violence as it was speculated by the critics that he had incited his followers to reverse the Presidential Elections result.
The ban however raised questions of ‘Freedom of Speech’ on social media platforms. The giants banned him from using the platform for around two years. This meant that he could only join the platform after January 2023.
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This although made former President Donald Trump launched his own platform to connect with his followers. This ban had also ignited a debate on the power that tech companies have in censoring content.
When he was banned, Trump had almost 90 million followers on Twitter and 34 million on Facebook.
Donald Trump’s ‘Truth Social’ in Apple App store
On Monday, Donald Trumps ‘Truth Social’ was rolled out, which was also US Presidents Day holiday. This launch formally marks the return of Trump on the digital space.
The app is owned by Trump Media and Technology Group. Currently, it is headed by former Republican US Representative Devin Nunes. The other company involved is Digital world Acquisition Corp. (DWAC). The two entities have entered into a merger to make ‘Truth Social’ a reality.
Apart from this, the plan is also to launch a news network TMTG News and a video streaming service TMTG+. It had earlier partnered with Rumble.
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He announced ‘Truth Social’ in October last year. The main agenda behind the creation of Truth Social is to provide a platform to all the voices of the world, which have been suppressed by the giants like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.
The former President’s presence on Truth Social was announced by his son, Donald Jr. Donald Jr posted a screenshot of his father Donald Trump’s verified account on Truth Social on Twitter.
The company has decided to allow all users to sign up. Though on Monday after the roll the users were facing a ‘glitch’. Due to the very high number of downloads, many users were put on the waiting list. Like any other platform, this will also provide the facility to block users. Though it had been made clear that on Truth Social there will be no shadow banning, throttling, demonetizing, or messing with algorithms for political manipulations. Though the policy on verified accounts is yet to be issued.
The CEOs of two major competitors Parler and Getter have welcomed Trump’s attempt.