WHAT’S THE STORY?
Former President Donald Trump has announced he will be starting his own social media network.
Without any trace of irony he is calling it TRUTH Social – note the upper case TRUTH, always a sign of a shouty person, usually telling fibs or at least little white lies.
He is set to fully launch the network early next year. It will be the first product of the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) which he has created via a merger with the Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC).
READ MORE: Donald Trump could make a devastating return to US politics
It’s his ultimate response to being banned from Twitter and Facebook after the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol – remember he called the rioters "patriots" – and he has gone to court to overturn those bans and suspensions, so far without success.
IS HE SERIOUS?
Deadly. For a start the new group has attracted millions of dollars in investment, mostly from Trump supporters, and will be seeking a stock exchange listing.
In a press statement yesterday Trump grandiosely forecast that the new group could eventually be worth $1.7 billion “depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination.”
He had already tried to get himself back into social media, launching what was effectively just glorified blog earlier this year, called From the Desk of Donald Trump. It failed to reach expected audience targets and closed after less than a month.
TRUTH Social is of a different order, however. The plan is to launch it next month for “invited guests only” and then roll out the app in the first three months of 2022.
TMTG also intends to launch a subscription video-on-demand service to “feature 'non-woke' entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more".
Trump’s statement yesterday said: “Those who are interested in joining TRUTH Social may now visit www.truthsocial.com.
"Truth Social is America’s 'Big Tent' social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology."
Patrick F Orlando, chairman and chief executive of DWAC, said they have $293m in trust to fuel the new TMTG’s scale-up and added: “Given the total addressable market and President Trump’s large following, we believe the TMTG opportunity has the potential to create significant shareholder value.”
WON’T IT JUST BE A PROPAGANDA OUTLET FOR THE FAR RIGHT?
Judge for yourself. The press statement was explicit: “Trump Media & Technology Group's mission is to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.”
As usual, Trump did not hold back: “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. 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'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech. Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!”
Is that the sound of a dog whistle blowing to the far right?
IT’S HAVING PROBLEMS ALREADY, ISN’T IT?
For something supposedly about free speech, the terms and conditions for joining include an agreement not to “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the site.” Oh, and they reserve the right to take offenders to court or even report them for “criminal” justice.
Proof that Trump is bereft of a sense of irony is that TRUTH Social won’t allow “excessive use of capital letters.” Only the ex-Prez is allowed to shout.
READ MORE: Steven Bannon among Donald Trump associates subpoenaed over Capitol insurrection
Some naughty opponents of Trump jumped on the network and created false accounts in the name of Trump and ex-vice President Mike Pence. How very lèse-majesté.
On real social media the question was put: Will TRUTH Social report the truth should Trump go to jail or lose lawsuits or be damned by the inquiry into January 6 and the five deaths the insurrection caused?
Yet don’t forget – millions laughed when Trump said he would run for President. Nobody’s laughing now.
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