Truth Social, a social media platform founded by former President Donald Trump promised would “stand up to Big Tech” after several websites banned his account, launched on Sunday — but users have already complained about long waitlists and glitches in the sign-up and registration process.
Truth Social looks a lot like Twitter, with tweets being labeled “truths,” and retweets being labeled “retruths.”
The app is available only to iPhone users at this time. has been almost impossible to use since its launch. There is currently a waitlist of more than 300,000 users who have tried to sign up but can’t, and one site-wide outage lasted more than 13 hours. Users have also reported that they were unable to sign up. that they cannot access the site’s terms of service.
The site’s problematic rollout is leading some privacy experts to suggest that there may be more issues with the platform, particularly concerning the security of users’ personal data.
“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,” said privacy researcher Bill Fitzgerald to The Washington Post.
The site also violated its promise to be an open social media platform where users are free of censorship. Trump has repeatedly complained about being banned from platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — yet Truth Social is already blocking usersYou can create parody accounts. a type of speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
Truth Social has banned accounts that target Devin Nunes (an ex-Republican Congressman) who is now in charge of the site’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group. Matt Ortega, the Twitter account manager @DevinNunesCow tried to parody Nunes on Truth Social. However, he was banned this week after signing up.
“I may be the first officially ‘cancelled’ Truth Social user,” Ortega noted on Twitter.
I might be the first Truth Social user to be officially “cancelled”. https://t.co/p1uqbdKTnX
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) February 22, 2022
Although Trump promised that Truth Social would be the standard-bearer of free speech and anti-censorship, Truth Social’s terms of service grant the site permission to ban “any person for any reason or for no reason” whatsoever.
After being banned by several websites for his incendiary and false rhetoric following the attack on America’s Capitol Building by a mob of his loyalists more than a year ago, Trump promised to start his own social media company. Trump is permanently banned from TwitterAnd is set to be Facebook allowed to be reactivated in January 2023.
