Donald Trump, banned on Twitter and FB, to launch his own social network

Ten months since being banned by social medial companies following the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, former US president Donald Trump has now decided to launch his own social networking platform called “TRUTH Social.”

The platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video on demand service that will feature “non-woke” entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.

“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,” Trump said in a statement on Wednesday.

Trump said that Truth Social would “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech”. The platform will be available through an app on the Apple Store as a beta version for trial by “invited guests” in November and the company expects a full rollout in the first quarter of 2022.

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“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” he continued. 

The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital Acquisition Corp to make TMTG a publicly-listed company, the statement said. 

“The transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at an initial enterprise value of $875 Million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination,” it stated.

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Trump was banned from the many social media platforms— Twitter, Facebook and YouTube— after his supporters stormed the Capitol earlier this year—over concerns that he might further incite the mob with his continued presence on social media.

YouTube said its ban would be lifted after the “risk of violence” decreases, Facebook said Trump could come back to the platform at the soonest in 2023 and Twitter said its ban would be permanent.

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Since then, Trump has been trying to reclaim his space on social networking sites.

In May he launched a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” which was touted as a major new outlet.

But Trump, who was also banned from Instagram, and Snapchat, cancelled the blog just a month later. 

He has been communicating  through a constant stream of press releases with tweet-like statements to the media and supporters.

(With inputs from agencies)