According to reports, “content moderation issues” are preventing Google’s app store, that controls access to 44% of cellphones in the U.S., from approving Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Trump’s platform is the subject of a barrage of unfavorable media attention while Google’s decision remains uncertain.
Google claimed that issues about content moderation were holding up the Play Store approval of Truth Social in a statement that was acquired via Axios and is now being reported elsewhere in the media.
We reminded Truth Social that having efficient procedures for policing user-generated material is a requirement of our terms of service before any app is allowed to go live on Google Play on August 19 and informed them of many breaches of general policies in their current app submission.
Former California congressman and CEO of Truth Social Devin Nunes has expressed his displeasure with the internet giant’s resistance. In a recent podcast interview, Nunes remarked, “I don’t know what’s taking them so long.”
A lot of media attention is being given to the controversy surrounding Truth Social’s availability on the Play Store, which comes just after the New York Times ran a hit story about “QAnon” content on Trump’s platform based on information from the partisan establishment group NewsGuard.
There are indications that the media is seeking to sway Google’s judgment over whether or not to approve Truth Social.
Over 99 percent of smartphone users in the U.S. use either the iOS or Android operating systems, creating a duopoly in the smartphone industry.
Truth Social has received approval from Apple, which holds around 55% of the market share in the U.S., but not from Google, which excludes the app and former Pres. Trump’s major social media channel from the other 44% of users.
Axios falsely asserts that messages threatening violence are still there on Truth Social after reporting that Google’s top worry is threats of violence on the network, providing just one example out of millions of posts.
But like every other social media network, Truth Social has a definite policy prohibiting threats of violence and other illegal activities.
The moderators of Truth Social are sometimes accused of missing threats of violence or failing to remove them quickly enough, according to Axios. However, the same criticism can be leveled at every other social media site, including Twitter, which has consistently failed to stop the propagation of violent threats to high school students and the Supreme Court justices.
Some of the remarks, which are blatant breaches of Twitter’s rules, remain on the site months after the Roe decision, which sparked a flood of threats and abuses directed towards Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
