Trump Announces His Own Social Network, “TRUTH Social” to ‘Stand Up to Tyranny of Big Tech’
Courtesy: Getty Images
The long-awaited platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video-on-demand service that will feature “non-woke” entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.
Republican Former President Donald Trump has announced on Wednesday the launch of his own social network “TRUTH Social” in the latest push to reclaim his internet dominance after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the violent Capitol insurrection, which aims to “stand up to the Tyranny of Big Tech”.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) will own “TRUTH Social” which will begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month. The group claimed in a statement that it is already available for pre-order in Apple’s App Store.
According to the statement, TMTG also intends to launch a subscription video-on-demand service with “non-woke” entertainment programming, led by Scott St. John, an executive producer from “Deal Or No Deal” and “America’s Got Talent.”
“I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook for stoking the attack at the US Capitol on January 6, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” he continued.
The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) to make TMTG a publicly listed company, the statement said.
“The transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at an initial enterprise value of $875 Million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination,” it stated.
“Given the total addressable market and President Trump’s large following, we believe the TMTG opportunity has the potential to create significant shareholder value,” DWAC chief Patrick Orlando said in the statement.
Trump has battled tech giants that he claims have wrongfully censored him for years, using Twitter in particular as a rhetorical weapon during his presidency.
The fight for free speech emerged when he was banned from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest of the world’s most popular social media platforms for inciting the mob that ransacked Congress.
Since then, Trump has been taking legal action against the Internet giants in an attempt to reclaim his internet megaphone.
He started a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” in May, which was hailed as a big new platform, but he pulled it down a month later.
Jason Miller, a former Trump aide, launched the social network Getty earlier this year, but the Republican has yet to join.
Miller congratulated Trump for “re-entering the social media fray” shortly after TRUTH Social was announced.
“Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share,” he said in a statement tweeted by Getty.
On January 7, Facebook banned Trump indefinitely for his violent comments that preceded the Capitol insurrection, later reducing the ban to two years.
Following suit, Twitter suspended Trump’s account, which had over 88 million followers at the time, permanently due to the “risk of further incitement of violence.”
As he strives to maintain his position as the most powerful Republican in the state, Trump has resumed holding public events, including campaign-style rallies.
He has teased about a presidential run in 2024, but he has yet to announce his political future.
