Topline
Google greenlit Truth Social for distribution on its Play Store for Android devices Wednesday, after Trump’s company promised to moderate content on the app, greatly expanding mobile access to former President Donald Trump’s fledgling social media platform.
Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the … [+]
Key Facts
The app was added to the Play Store on Wednesday afternoon, giving the 44% of U.S. smartphone owners who use the Android operating system a chance to download it through their primary app channel.
Truth Social has been available for iPhone users through the App Store since February, but Google reportedly blocked it from the Play Store over concerns about moderation policies.
Google said in a statement to Forbes that Truth Social assured the tech giant it would readily enforce moderation policies, which include “removing violative content like incitement to violence.”
Tangent
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company aiming to buy the venture behind Truth Social, rose more than 6% in after-hours trading after the news broke Wednesday. The company ended the normal trading day with a share price of $15.96, but the price soared to more than $17 at times during after-hours trading.
Key Background
Trump Media & Technology Group, a new company founded by the former president, announced plans to launch Truth Social last year. But the app, designed as a conservative competitor to Twitter, has been plagued with numerous problems, including massive glitches during a rollout period that lasted more than a month, concerns about financing and a series of regulatory investigations involving DWAC. Trump’s company is set to be publicly listed after it merges with DWAC, but that move has been delayed, in part due to a federal criminal investigation into the merger agreement. Allegations surfaced last year that DWAC and Trump Media executives may have reached a merger agreement months before it was legally permissible to do so.
What To Watch For
DWAC is urging its shareholders to extend a December 8 deadline to complete the merger with Trump Media, warning the company could collapse if the deadline is not pushed back. The shareholders are set to vote at a November 3 meeting.
Further Reading
DWAC Seeks To Delay Merger With Trump’s Truth Social Company Amid Federal Investigations (Forbes)
Trump’s Truth Social Still Plagued With Glitches Despite March 31 Goal To Be ‘Fully Operational’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/10/12/google-adds-trumps-truth-social-app-to-play-store/