According to a new report from Axios, Donald Trump's conservative social network , Truth Social, has not yet received approval from Google to join the Google Play Store (Android), due to concerns about the content that may be released on the platform.
Truth Social was created by the Trump Media and Technology Group, with the aim of competing with Twitter, after Trump was banned from it when hundreds of his supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Congress from confirming Joe Biden 's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
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Regarding the rejection from the Play Store, Google appears to have argued that the Truth Social app does not have effective systems for moderating user-generated content, and therefore violates its terms of service.
“When will we be available on Android? Well, look, that depends on the Google Play Store,” Truth Social CEO Devin Nuneson August 26. “I mean, we’re waiting for them to approve us and… I don’t know why it’s taking so long.”
Google, for its part, claimed that Nunes' statements misrepresent the ongoing dialogue between Trump Media and the Play store. Google reiterated that Truth Social administrators are well aware of the reason for this delay, which is related to the incitement and threats of physical violence found on the social networking platform.
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“On August 19, we notified Truth Social of multiple policy violations in the current submitted app and reiterated that having effective systems in place to moderate user-generated content is a prerequisite for any app released on the Google Play Store,” Google said in a statement to Axios.
The iOS version of Truth Social was released on Apple’s App Store in February. The app was an instant hit, but its popularity has waned over time. It saw a surge in downloads after the FBI raided Trump’s residence earlier this month. According to analytics firm Data.ai, in the days following the FBI’s raid on classified documents obtained by the former president, Truth Social saw an average of 13,400 downloads per day on the App Store. That’s more than five times the average downloads the previous week. In total, the iOS of Truth Social received 107,500 downloads in the week from August 8 to 15.
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However, the fact that the Android version of Truth Social is not yet available on the Google Play store is a major blow to Trump's social media platform. Android users make up more than 44% of smartphone users in the US , and the app is not available to all of those users.
Source: mashable.com
