{"id":75561,"date":"2022-02-07T15:03:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T15:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=75561"},"modified":"2022-02-07T15:03:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T15:03:29","slug":"trumps-truth-social-app-self-proclaimed-foe-of-big-tech-needs-apple-and-google-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=75561","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Truth Social app, self-proclaimed foe of Big Tech, needs Apple and Google to survive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"News Desk:<\/strong> With just weeks to go before an expected launch, Donald Trump\u2019s new media venture is trying to strike a delicate balance with its app: giving Trump\u2019s base the freedom to express themselves, without running afoul of Apple\u00a0and\u00a0Google\u2019s app store policies.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0launch of Truth Social<\/strong>\u00a0comes a year after the former US president was banned from\u00a0Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It will be a major test of whether Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and other tech companies that describe themselves as champions of free speech can scale alongside the Silicon Valley gatekeepers that conservatives have accused of squelching free expression.<\/p>\n

TMTG has pledged to deliver an \u201cengaging and censorship-free experience\u201d on its Truth Social app, appealing to a base that feels its views around such hot-button topics in American life as vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream tech platforms.<\/p>\n

Yet Trump\u2019s tech team must erect guard rails to ensure Truth Social does not get kicked out of the app stores run by Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc\u2019s Google \u2013 a fate that befell popular conservative app Parler in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riots in the US Capitol. Without these stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download the app.<\/p>\n

The risk of such \u201cde-platforming\u201d is a top priority for TMTG Chief Executive Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, as his team builds the app, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Recognizing that the app will be a major target for hackers from day one, Nunes wants to have cyber talent at the \u201cnation-state level,\u201d one of the people said. Nunes has said publicly that the company\u2019s goal is to launch its Truth Social app by the end of March.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for TMTG did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

TMTG remains shrouded in secrecy and is regarded with scepticism by some in tech and media circles. Two conservative media executives pointed to the venture\u2019s apparent failure to launch a beta service in November, as planned, and cited the lack of known involvement by high-profile media, tech or political players \u2013 other than Nunes \u2013 as evidence it may be more bluster than substance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one has approached me or my team,\u201d said one conservative media insider. \u201cTrump has always been a bit of (his) own island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Content Moderation<\/strong><\/p>\n

TMTG\u2019s mission of standing up to Big Tech is limited by its reliance on Google and Apple, which operate app stores that dominate the smartphone market. TMTG is working with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that does AI-based content moderation, to flag sexually explicit content, hate speech, bullying and violent content. That partnership is driven in part by TMTG\u2019s desire for the Truth Social app to remain in the Apple App and Google Play stores, according to a person familiar with the venture.<\/p>\n

Truth Social will need robust content moderation in the form of both automated detection and in-person teams, as well as a way for users to report offensive posts, said David Thiel, the big data architect and chief technology officer of the Stanford Internet Observatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere it is going to become difficult is if they get into a situation like with Parler, where they have such a degree of hate speech that the hosting service and potentially the App Store starts to take notice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Truth Social app will be subject to Apple\u2019s App Store rules that require developers to offer a way for users to report offensive content and provide \u201ctimely responses.\u201d The rules also bar content that \u201cencourages violence\u201d or \u201cdepictions that encourage illegal or reckless use of weapons and dangerous objects.\u201d<\/p>\n