This illustration photo shows a person checking the app store on a smartphone for “Truth Social”, with a photo of former US president Donald Trump on a computer screen in the background, in Los Angeles, October 20, 2021. – Former US president Donald Trump announced plans on October 20 to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social,” which is expected to begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month. The long-awaited 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. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will launch his own social media platform called TRUTH Social, according to a press release by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG). Truth Social will be created through a new company formed by a merger of the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Corp, per the press release.
The deal values Trump Media & Technology Group at $875 million, including debt, according to the statement. Trump Media & Technology Group’s growth plans initially will be funded by Digital World Acquisition Corp cash in trust of $293 million, assuming no shareholder of the acquisition firm chooses to redeem their shares.
TRUTH Social is set to launch beta in November and will be available to selected guests only, followed by a nationwide rollout in the first quarter of 2022. The new company also has plans for a subscription video-on-demand service that will feature entertainment, news, and podcasts.
With the launch of TRUTH Social, Donald Trump plans to compete against tech giants Facebook and Twitter, as well as other platforms which expelled him from their platforms. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable. I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech,” Donald Trump said in the written statement.
Earlier this year, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube kicked Trump off their platforms for his role in inciting the January 6th attack on the Capitol, which cost the lives of several people. Precisely, on the 7th of January, Facebook banned Trump indefinitely, later narrowing the ban to two years. Twitter followed suit, permanently suspending Donald Trump’s account, which had more than 88 million followers at the time, due to the “risk of further incitement of violence”. Ever since, Donald Trump has been looking for ways to reclaim his internet megaphone, launching several lawsuits against the tech giants.
According to Trump, the mission of TRUTH Social is to create a rival to the social media coalition and fight back against the Big Tech companies. “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” Donald Trump said. Per its website, Trump Media and Technology Group (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.
Donald Trump’s announcement also comes months after his former aide Jason Miller launched another social media company called GETTR, and his company anticipates eventually competing against Amazon’s AWS cloud service and Google.
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