Two days after a crowd of his supporters raided the U.S. Capitol Building, attacked police, and built a gallows for then Vice President Mike Pence, Donald Trump was unceremoniously kicked off Twitter. Billionaire Elon Musk, when he made a $44 billion bid ($54.20 per share) for Twitter in April that he later rescinded, said that if he bought the company he would reinstate the former president.
Trump's Truth Social platform remains unavailable to the 44% of Americans that use Android
Last October, Trump decided to create his own Twitter-like social media site which he calls Truth Social. While available in the App Store for iOS users, Google only allows users to pre-register for the app in the Play Store. And in fact, it appears that Google may never allow Truth Social on the Android platform, at least not until the platform fixes some big issues that are upsetting Google. According to CNBC, Google says that the app does not have a method for moderating user content which violates the terms of the Play Store. In a statement it released today, Google said, "On Aug. 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play."
Due to Google's restriction, Android users in the U.S. (who make up 44% of smartphone users in the country) cannot install Truth Social on their phones. Axios reports that Truth Social is familiar with Google's demands and quotes Google as saying, "Last week Truth Social wrote back acknowledging our feedback and saying that they are working on addressing these issues."
Axios notes that while Truth Social does have a banner that says "sensitive content" that is placed before some posts and reads, "This content may not be suitable for all audiences," content that threatens violence remains on the platform. There are other issues as well. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused an application from Trump to trademark the "Truth Social" name.