By John Ikani
Sequel to his banishment from Twitter and Facebook, former President Donald Trump is setting out — again — to create a platform where he can communicate easily with his base and the rest of the world.
This is as he has announced plans on Wednesday to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social,” which is expected to begin its beta launch for “invited guests” next month.
The announcement was made on his behalf by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) which also announced that it intends to launch a streaming service that features “‘non-woke’ entertainment programming, news, podcasts, and more.”
Trump was banned or suspended from social networks like Twitter and Facebook after crowds of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January.
He and his advisers have since hinted that they were planning to create a rival social media site.
Earlier this year, he launched From the Desk of Donald J Trump, which was often referred to as a blog.
The website was permanently shut down less than a month after it launched. His senior aide Jason Miller said it was “just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on”.
An early version of his latest venture, TRUTH Social, will be open to invited guests next month, and will have a “nationwide rollout” within the first three months of 2022, according to a statement by TMTG.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
“I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. 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!” he added.
There have been other social networks created to attract conservative users, but they have not gained the traction that more mainstream platforms have.
Jason Miller, a former adviser to Trump, launched Gettr, which describes itself as a “free speech social media platform.”
Miller said in a statement: “Congratulations to President Trump for re-entering the social media fray! … Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share.”
The platform Parler became briefly popular after Trump was booted from Facebook and Twitter, but the network went dark for weeks after Amazon pulled its cloud support for it over concerns that it was not doing enough to moderate incitements to violence.
