The truth hurts.
Truth Social, the long-awaited social media offering from former President Donald Trump, had a disastrous debut this week.
The Washington Post reports that “technical glitches” have made the site “almost entirely inaccessible” since its Sunday rollout. At one point, the site was down for thirteen hours and 300,000 people are stuck on a waiting list, unable to sign up.
Bill Fitzgerald, a privacy researcher, told the outlet “The basic thing they needed to actually get right, to get someone in the door, they couldn’t get right.”
“There is no better sign of a rushed implementation than the fact that you can’t onboard anybody. So I’m hard-pressed to understand why anyone would trust that these people would keep their information safe,” Fitzgerald added.
In addition, the logo for Truth Social is remarkably similar to that of Trailar, a U.K. transportation company. Trailar told Bloomberg “We are now seeking legal advice to understand next steps and options available to protect our brand.”
Despite the poor rollout and lingering legal questions, Truth Social surged to the top of Apple’s free apps download charts on Tuesday and the company’s stock has risen over the past week.
The Post provides key context:
The site had been heralded for months as the crown jewel of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, with allies pledging it would revolutionize social media and take down the mainstream social networks where Trump is banned.
But early glimpses at Truth Social suggest its offerings are almost identical to what Twitter and other sites have offered for years — except tweets are called “truths,” and retweets “retruths.” The site’s early struggles also have fueled doubts that Trump’s company will be able to handle tougher long-term challenges, such as policing for dangerous content and guarding against cyberattacks.
Trump has repeatedly said that Truth Social will be an antidote to social media companies who “censor” posts. But according to Business Insider, the company blocked an account critical of its CEO, former Congressman Devin Nunes:
Web developer Matt Ortega tried to create an account called “@DevinNunesCow” — but tweeted that his account was banned by Truth Social due to “social community guidelines violations.”
Ortega shared the email with Insider, which confirmed its authenticity.
The account name is a nod to a Twitter parody account called “@DevinCow,” which purports to be run by a cow owned by former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes. Ortega does not operate the original Twitter @DevinCow account.
Nunes tried to file a defamation lawsuit against the owner of the @DevinCow account in March 2019. A judge dismissed Nunes’ case in June 2020.
Bloomberg provides additional background on Truth Social’s backers:
Rumble, which is seen as a right-wing alternative to Google’s YouTube, is providing technology and cloud services to Trump Media & Technology Group. Rumble’s investors include well-known conservative venture capitalists J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel. Vance, author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” is also a Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio.
