Big Tech Could Save Us From Truth Social
App store policies prohibit incitement to violence. Will Apple and Google stand up for the greater good?
The scariest thing to happen in October 2021 had nothing to do with Halloween. It happened weeks before the holiday, in the form of an announcement from Donald Trump. The former president let the world know that he would be launching his own social media network with the goal to, in his words, “stand up to the tyranny of big tech.” Truth Social would be debuting in early 2022.
It’s likely no one was surprised by this development. Ever since the former president was removed from Twitter for his part in inciting the January 6th Capitol Hill insurrection, he has been without his loudest megaphone. Social media was a tool that helped propel him to victory in 2016. Trump played up the martyr angle in a performance that closely mimicked that of Alex Jones after the far-right conspiracy theorist was banned from social media in 2018.
All the same, news of Truth Social’s launch sent shockwaves through the political world. More than anything else, it signaled something that America could not afford to ignore: Trump was back, and he was planning to run in 2024.