WASHINTON: Former US President Donald Trump announced to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social,” which is expected to begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month.
The platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video-on-demand service that will feature “non-woke” entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.
“I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” Trump was quoted as saying in the statement.
For years, Trump, who wielded Twitter in particular as a rhetorical weapon during his presidency, has battled tech giants whom he argues have wrongfully censored him.
The free-speech fight escalated when Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest of the world’s dominant social media platforms banned him as punishment for stirring up the mob that ransacked Congress.
Ever since, Trump has been looking for ways to reclaim his internet megaphone, launching several lawsuits against the tech giants.
In May, he launched a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” which was touted as a major new outlet — but he pulled it from the internet just a month later.
Former Trump aide Jason Miller launched a social network called Gettr earlier this year, but the Republican has not yet joined it.
Shortly after TRUTH Social was announced, Miller congratulated Trump on “re-entering the social media fray.”
“Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share,” he said in a statement tweeted by Gettr.
Facebook banned Trump indefinitely on January 7 over his incendiary comments that preceded the Capitol insurrection, later narrowing the ban to two years.
Twitter quickly followed, permanently suspending Trump’s account — which had more than 88 million followers at the time — due to the “risk of further incitement of violence.”
Trump has begun holding public events, including campaign-style rallies, as he seeks to remain the nation’s most influential Republican.
He has teased a potential 2024 presidential run but has made no announcement on his political future.
