Posted on September 2, 2022

Scoop: Truth Social’s Google Play Store Holdup

Sara Fischer, Axios, August 30, 2022

Google hasn’t yet approved Truth Social’s Android app for distribution via its Play Store because of insufficient content moderation, a Google spokesperson tells Axios.

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What Google is saying: “On Aug. 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.”

  • “Last week Truth Social wrote back acknowledging our feedback and saying that they are working on addressing these issues.”

Details: A source says that Google’s concerns relate to content such as physical threats and incitements to violence.

  • Truth Social does have “sensitive content” banners that appear before some posts that read “This content may not be suitable for all audiences,” but content that threatens violence remains on the platform.

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Workaround: Truth Social could offer Android users a version of its app via its website or other channels — an option not available to developers on Apple’s iOS mobile operating system — but the company has not done so.

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