Truth Social Android app is not approved on Google Play Store – Axios

The Truth social network logo is seen in this illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Aug 30 (Reuters) – Truth Social, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media platform, has not yet been approved for distribution on Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google Play Store due to insufficient content moderation, Axios reported Tuesday, citing a Google spokesperson.

The delay marks a setback for the app, which launched on Apple’s App Store on February 21. Android phones make up about 40% of the US smartphone market. Without the Google and Apple stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth Social.

Google and Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Truth Social restored Trump’s social media presence more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube following the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riots. after being accused of posting messages inciting violence. .

TMTG has pledged to deliver an “engaging, uncensored experience” on Truth Social, appealing to a base that believes its opinions on such hot topics in American life as vaccines and the outcome of the presidential election of 2020 have been erased from mainstream tech platforms.

TMTG works with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that performs AI-based content moderation, to report sexually explicit content, hate speech, bullying, and violent content on the app.

Human moderators decide what to do with content flagged by Hive. While the scope of TMTG’s human moderation efforts is unclear, according to a posting on TMTG’s website, the company is hiring a “Community Content Administrator” whose job will be to review “content posted by users on Truth Social by verifying that it meets established community guidelines.”

TMTG plans to go public through a merger with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.O). The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the merger, according to documents filed by DWAC.

Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri

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