Thu 13 October 2022:
Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., has authorized former US President Donald Trump’s social media app Truth Social for distribution in the Google Play Store, according to a company spokesperson.
Google said on Wednesday that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which runs Truth Social, will soon make the app accessible through the Play Store.
Truth Social, which launched in the US in the Apple App Store in February, had not previously been available in the Play Store due to insufficient content moderation, according to a Google spokesperson in August. Google had expressed concerns to Truth Social about violations of its Play Store policies, which prohibit content like physical threats and incitement to violence.
Without the Google and Apple stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth Social.
Google’s Play Store is the main way users of Android phones in the US download apps. Android users can get apps through competing stores or download them directly from a website, though it often requires extra steps and security permissions. Truth Social has been available through those means even as Google blocked it from the Play Store.
Android phones account for roughly 40% of the US smartphone market.
“I AM NOT GOING ON TWITTER, I AM GOING TO STAY ON TRUTH”: TRUMP
Truth Social restored Trump’s social media presence more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook, and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube following the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riots, after he was accused of posting inciting messages.
TMTG has pledged to provide a “engaging and censorship-free experience” on Truth Social, appealing to a fan base that believes its opinions on hot-button issues like the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been censored on mainstream tech platforms.
Axios was the first to report on Google’s approval.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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