For months, Android users could not download Truth Social from Google’s store. In October 2022, that changed. Google put former President Donald Trump’s Twitter alternative on Google Play after blocking it earlier in the year over violent content.
The app had been blocked since August, when Google said it would not distribute Truth Social until the platform took down posts that incite violence. Google said the app lacked a system for policing content that breaks its terms of service.
Now the company says it is satisfied. In a statement, Google said the app will stay available as long as it follows rules “to effectively moderate user-generated content and remove objectionable posts such as those that incite violence.” NPR reported that it is unclear what exactly changed about Truth Social since August.
Google’s rules bar apps that carry posts promoting violence or inciting hatred against individuals and groups. They also ban posts with misleading health claims, such as those about vaccines and conversion therapy.
Why Android matters
The app had been on iPhones and other Apple devices for months. Android is a bigger prize worldwide: Google’s operating system runs some 70% of smartphones globally, and about 44% of devices in the United States, according to market research firm StatCounter. There are ways around app stores, but Google and Apple still control what most people can put on their phones.
Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, welcomed the listing. “With its inclusion in the Google Play Store, Truth Social can now be accessed across all devices in the United States,” he said. “Today marks a significant milestone in our mission to restore free speech online.”
Users write “truths,” much as they would post tweets on Twitter. The platform is dominated by right-wing and conservative voices, and views there can quickly drift into conspiracy theory. Trump and his allies have promoted it with mixed success since he was banned from major social media sites after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Truth Social ranked among the most downloaded free apps in Apple’s App Store at launch, but interest has since fallen.
Trouble at the parent company
The Google news came while the deal to take Trump’s social media company public was in difficulty. Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, is trying to merge with it and keeps drawing investigations from regulators that could undo the deal.
The merger faces a December 8 deadline to finish its stock market listing. Miss it, and Digital World is set to liquidate. The company has tried to win stockholder support for a longer timeline and has not yet done so.
Digital World landed some $1 billion in commitments, but investors have been spooked in recent weeks. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last month, the company said investors had pulled nearly $139 million out.
Trump, under growing legal pressure from state and federal prosecutors and lawmakers in Washington, has publicly suggested he might run for president again in 2024.
