On Oct. 20, former President Donald Trump announced that he would be releasing Truth Social, a social media platform with a mission “to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.”

Former President Trump and his associates from Trump Media and Technology Group and SPAC state in the app description that they hope to build a platform where “Uncle Jim from Atlanta is a proud libertarian. Aunt Kellie from Texas is a staunch conservative. Your cousin John from California is a die-hard liberal. And guess what? They’re all together to have an amazing time and share their viewpoints of the world. Although we don’t always agree with each other, we welcome these varied opinions and welcome the conversation.”

The idea of a platform that’s a peaceful place to share ‘varied opinions’ without political-based censorship sounds nice, but it’s unrealistic. In the company’s terms of service, it states under the prohibited activities section that if you were to “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the site,” you can face post removal, a ban, etc.

Other platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, don’t say this in their terms of service. This leads me to believe that you can’t bash Trump or partnering organizations on Truth Social. Doesn’t that conflict with the company’s mission?

President Trump was previously banned from Twitter and Snapchat; and suspended from Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitch. So it seems like he is releasing the platform in hopes of renewing his social media presence, and in the meantime, stopping people from attacking him on his platform.

News outlets such as Vanity Fair are boasting headlines saying “Trump’s New Social Media Company Is His Biggest Scam Yet,” but I feel like critics are being too harsh. Despite my concerns with the specifics and President Trump’s track record, I still feel the platform deserves a chance. 

With its release set for Feb. 22, 2022, no one really knows what the platform will be like. I signed up for the free ‘pre-order’ in hopes of giving the platform a test run upon its release; I urge others to do the same.