Update:
10:35 a.m. ET Oct. 21: Drew Harwell of The Washington Post cleared up a report Thursday morning that former President Donald Trump’s new social media site had been hacked when he tweeted that “Pranksters found an unreleased test version of what appeared to be Trump’s social network site, made a fake account in Trump’s name, and then used it to post the meme image “Pig Poop Balls.”
Original story:
Former President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is launching a new media company that will include a dedicated social media platform.
The company, called the Trump Media & Technology Group, will have a social media network called “Truth Social” that will allow Trump a presence on social media nine months after he was kicked off Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump said in a statement that the impetus for the network was his ban from social media platforms which was “unacceptable.”
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” he said in a statement. “This is unacceptable.”
Trump was permanently banned from Twitter, while Facebook and Instagram said the earliest he could post on the platform would be 2023. YouTube did not set a date where he may be allowed on the site, saying only that the ban would be lifted after the “risk of violence decreased.”
“Trump Media & Technology Group’s mission is to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the “Big Tech” companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America,” the statement continued.
According to the website, “TMTG intends to even the playing field by providing people with open media platforms where they can share and create content without fear of reputational ruin.”
The network will begin its “beta launch for invited guests in November”, the website said, with TRUTH Social available for pre-order in the Apple App Store. The nationwide rollout is expected in the first quarter of 2022.