Details about former US President Donald Trump’s new social media app are emerging as about 500 beta testers have started using an early version of “Truth Social,” two sources told Reuters.
The Truth Social test comes a year after Trump was banned from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
His new media and technology venture, Trump Media & Technology Group, has promised to offer an “immersive, censor-free experience” on the app, which Chief Executive Devin Nunes said will launch by the end of March.
TMTG remains shrouded in secrecy and is viewed with skepticism by some in tech and media circles.
It remains unclear whether the app’s free speech objective can coexist with Apple’s and Google’s app store policies. TMTG was not immediately available for comment.
Liz Willis, correspondent and vice president of operations for the Right Side Broadcasting Network, told Reuters that she received an email on Tuesday stating that “T Media Tech LLC has invited you to test Truth Social.”
Willis was able to download the app to his iPhone through the beta testing site TestFlight, the Apple-owned product that developers use before releasing their apps to the App Store.
Users have been posting to this version of Truth Social for the past 24 hours, Willis said Wednesday morning.
Wayne Dupree, founder of WayneDupree.com and host of a conservative podcast, is also among the app’s beta testers.
“I can see my participation in Truth Social surpassing Twitter because it feels like I’m not suppressed like I’ve been on Twitter since 2016,” said Dupree, who added that there is currently no edit button.
“I want to share my single dad chronicles. I want my followers to see that I am more than a politician, and I feel that Truth Social will allow my audience to see me as Twitter purposely did not.”
As of Wednesday, Trump’s Truth Social account had 317 followers, according to a screenshot seen by Reuters. Trump had 88 million followers before Twitter banned him.
Truth Social allows users to post and share a “truth” just as they would a tweet. There are no ads, according to Willis and a second source familiar with TMTG.
Users choose who they follow and the feed is a mix of individual posts and an RSS-like news feed. They will be alerted if someone mentions them or starts following them.
According to a screenshot, the app says that “a new direct messaging experience will be available soon. Stay tuned”.
Several conservative media personalities also have accounts, according to a screenshot analyzed by Reuters. Reuters was unable to immediately contact these individuals for comment.
Trump’s account shows a message he posted three days ago, verified to @realDonaldTrump’s account with a red check and the message: “Get ready! Your favorite president will see you soon!”
Donald Trump Jr on Twitter highlighted his father’s first post on Truth Social.
TMTG released an updated version, “Truth Social 0.9”, on Wednesday morning. He is testing bug fixes for “re-truths”, which is what he calls retweet, “image aspect ratios and compression, improved error handling and account creation”.
On Wednesday morning, Nunes, who joined the app on February 10, posted: “Good morning, real testers. Please catch any bugs when the screen preview appears.”
If a tester sees something they don’t like, they can capture the image and report it to the developers.
A message reads: “Beta feedback and device information is collected and shared with the developer and will be linked to your email address.”
* Via CNN Business
Source: CNN Brasil
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