Former U.S. President Donald Trump, banned from social media platforms Facebook and Twitter since the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has announced that he is launching a social media company , TRUTH Social, to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced ,” Mr. Trump said in a statement released via email by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG).
The platform will be made possible via the merger of TMTG and Digital World Acquisition Group, the email said, with TMTG eventually becoming a publicly listed company.
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The app is expected to rollout across the U.S. in the first quarter of next year, with a beta version being launched next month.
“I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech. Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!” Mr. Trump said. Presumably, a ‘TRUTH’ is the equivalent of a message or a tweet on Twitter.
TMTG also announced that it is launching a subscription video on demand program, featuring ‘non-woke’ programming.
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While as President, Mr. Trump had a penchant for tweeting throughout the day , though his tweets were normally concentrated in the early morning hours. Some of his messages often indicated shifts in foreign policy, others served as marketing messages for his presidency and campaign.
The former president was known to call his political rivals names on Twitter. Since being expelled from social media sites, Mr. Trump has sought to restore his voice online in various ways. In July this year he sued Twitter, Facebook and Google saying he was the victim of censorship.