Former President Donald Trump may have been banned from Twitter and Facebook–which suspended him after inciting the riot that led to the U.S. Capitol siege–but that didn't stop him from spewing his toxic rhetoric and pushing false claims and conspiracies elsewhere.
To challenge the social media platforms that silenced him, Trump created his own social media network, Truth Social, which launched on Monday.
But it appears the platform is already off to a bumpy start after a far-right radio personality claimed Trump's platform had censored him for "sensitive content."
Stew Peters, a prominent conspiracy theorist who pushed false claims about COVID-19 vaccinations, was outraged after Truth Social apparently restricted his post in which he called for the execution of U.S. government officials.
Far-right radio host Stew Peters claims he\u2019s been \u201ccensored on Truth Social,\u201d while including a picture of a \u201csensitive content\u201d notice over one of his posts.pic.twitter.com/FWBOJAfpwp— Zachary Petrizzo (@Zachary Petrizzo) 1645554028
Peters–whose Truth Social description reads, "America First White Christian Alpha Male, Purveyor of Dangerous Truth"–complained on the messaging app, Telegram, after he was shown a "sensitive content" warning.
He wrote:
"I'm ALREADY being censored on Truth Social."
@ZTPetrizzo/Twitter
In his initial post, Peters stated that any member of the government that allowed "kids to be killed with these dangerous Covid shots, should be put on trial and executed. Free speech isn't free."
Here's what he wrotepic.twitter.com/qgfNmbgvsO— seleln (@seleln) 1645555142
People had plenty to say about his character.
WTF is an "American First White Christian Alpha Male"? When you're an "Alpha Male", you generally don't need to say it, it's assumed. Instead, we are all questioning his manhood now.— Chris Pearcey (@Chris Pearcey) 1645556698
At first, I read his name a Spew Peters, and I thought, what did he expect.— Buffalo David, The StarGezzer \u2728\ud83d\udd2d (@Buffalo David, The StarGezzer \u2728\ud83d\udd2d) 1645554174
When you need to claim you're an "alpha male", most likely you have insecurities about your masculinity— Will.I.AMHxson33 (@Will.I.AMHxson33) 1645555155
"Stew Peters" is also the name of Jeffrey Dahmer's Cookbook.— Devin Nunes' Fainting Goat \ud83d\udc10 (@Devin Nunes' Fainting Goat \ud83d\udc10) 1645556718
Here is a YouTube clip in which he discusses his point of view as a bounty hunter in Minneapolis.
POV - Bounty Hunter Stew Peterswww.youtube.com
In spite of Truth Social's rough beginnings beset with glitches–including numerous error messages, registration issues, and waitlists–the app became one of the top downloads on Apple's downloading charts.
People mocked the new platform, and they couldn't help but call them out for being a Twitter imposter.
Can they literally just rip off Twitter as far as it being a complete copy of their design and layout without some sort of legal consequences? Serious question.— Pete S (@Pete S) 1645558439
Just so weird, looks just like twitter. So they stole their format, stole someone else's logo. What did their dev people actually do on their own?— Kristina Falcone (@Kristina Falcone) 1645579429
wow, it's literally a clone of Twitter, but with a red check— Tura Satana Fan Club CEO (@Tura Satana Fan Club CEO) 1645554186
How English?pic.twitter.com/Q2DaP4obAl— Felipe Bido (@Felipe Bido) 1645556282
Truth Social is going to be comprised mainly of white Christian alpha males all competing for the title.— RoodLoodMongoose (@RoodLoodMongoose) 1645556396
BBC journalist James Clayton stated that Truth Social could surpass other alt-tech "free speech" media platforms like Parler and Gab.
Clayton added that the creation of Truth Social was an indication that Trump "clearly wants his megaphone back. He thinks this might be his ticket."
Although Truth Social touts itself to be an open and free platform, Rolling Stone noted the app's terms and conditions included a clause stating that users cannot disparage the site.
Mike Rhodes, the CEO of mobile app marketing consultancy firm ConsultMyApp, told the Daily Mail that the platform is set up for failure.
"This new platform is evidently geared up to promote content with a specific viewpoint, rather than harbor a wide range of views on multiple subjects."
"Echo chamber platforms like this already exist, however, they are by no means adopted by the masses. My best guess is that the platform will simply end life as a forum for people to reaffirm existing views, with a small but dedicated user base."
"Eventually, it is likely that Mr. Trump will find another media outlet to serve him better. He'll pack up his bags, and so too will the remaining platform users."