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The
delay marks a setback for the app, which launched in the Apple
App Store on Feb. 21. Android phones comprise about 40% of the
U.S. smartphone market. Without the Google and Apple stores,
there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth
Social.
“On August 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of
standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated
that having effective systems for moderating user-generated
content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go
live on Google Play,” Google said in a statement.
Google said it has expressed concerns to Truth Social about
violations of its Play Store policies prohibiting content like
physical threats and incitement to violence. Truth Social parent
company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) did not respond to
Reuters' request for comment, but in a press release said that
it has “continuously worked in good faith with Google to ensure
that the Truth Social Android App complies with Google’s
policies without compromising our promise to be a haven for free
speech.”
It added: “Moreover, some of our competitors’ apps are allowed
in the Google Play Store despite rampantly violating Google’s
prohibition on sexual content and other policies, whereas Truth
Social has zero tolerance for sexually explicit content.”
News of the Android delay was first reported by Axios.
Truth Social restored Trump's presence on social media more than
a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook and
Alphabet Inc's YouTube following the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol
riots, after he was accused of posting messages inciting
violence.
TMTG has pledged to deliver an “engaging and censorship-free
experience” on Truth Social, appealing to a base that feels its
views around such hot-button topics such as the outcome of the
2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream
tech platforms.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Chavi Mehta in
Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Nick Zieminski)
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