Trump’s social media platform experiences bumpy rollout
Former President Donald Trump’s new social platform appears to have some bugs to work out.
Truth Social, a Twitter-like platform, debuted late Sunday in Apple’s App Store, but there have been widespread reports of technical problems.
What You Need To Know
- Truth Social, Donald Trump's new social media platform, debuted late Sunday in Apple’s App Store, but there have been widespread reports of technical problems
- In messages on its website Monday, Truth Social said it was experiencing “overwhelming demand” and that it had limited the rate in which user accounts were being created
- A Spectrum News producer successfully downloaded the app, but had trouble creating an account and experienced a number of error messages
- Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump's media company, told Fox News the goal is to have Truth Social fully operational in the United States by the end of March
In messages on its website Monday, Truth Social said it was experiencing “overwhelming demand” and that it had limited the rate in which user accounts were being created, which it said it was increasing.
Several users reported receiving “Something Went Wrong” errors and being added to a waitlist that appeared to include as many as 170,000 others.
A Spectrum News producer was successfully able to download the app, but had trouble creating an account. On several occasions, an error appeared saying: “Something went wrong. Please try again.” Twice, the email-address-verification stage was reached, but by the time the email sent by Truth Social reached the inbox, the link had already expired.
When attempting to sign up for the waitlist through the Truth Social website, a “405 Not Allowed” error appeared
Devin Nunes, the former California congressman who resigned to become CEO of Trump’s media company, told Fox News on Sunday, “Our goal is — I think we’re going to hit it — I think by the end of March, we’re going to be fully operational at least within the United States.”
Trump, a once-avid Twitter user, created Truth Social in response to being banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which a mob of his supporters sought to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election.
Twitter permanently banned Trump, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.”
The Facebook Oversight Board upheld Trump’s suspension last May, but has left the door open for his possible return.
Last week, Trump’s son, Donald Jr., shared a screen grab of the former president’s first post on Truth Social.
“Get Ready!” Donald Trump wrote. “Your favorite President will see you soon!”
The design of the post strongly resembled Twitter. The platform calls posts “Truths” and reposts “ReTruths.”
Truth Social is the latest alternative social media platform targeting conservatives who believe major tech companies are censoring Republican voices online. Other platforms include Parler, Gab and Gettr.
On its website, Truth Social calls itself “America's ‘Big Tent’ social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”
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