Donald Trump's app TRUTH Social bans users who discuss January 6 hearings

When Donald Trump decided to start his own social media company after being banned from Twitter, he promised it would be a place for free, uncensored discussions to take place.

Truth Social said it would be a place that "encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating based on political ideology."

However, despite Trump's claims that Truth Social would be a place for true freedom, it seems there are a few things that are not permitted, and one of them is talking about the January 6 hearings.

According to Variety, several Truth Social users have been suspended from the platform for posting about the January 6 hearings. Several users shared Tweets that they had been kicked off Truth Social for writing about the proceedings on Donald's platform.

Travis Allen, a former Truth Social app user, shared a screenshot on Twitter from his Truth Social page with the message that he had been permanently suspended. Allen says this occurred after discussing the January 6 Committee hearings.

Allen is not the only user to be banned for discussing the January 6 hearings, which have not been going well for Mr. Trump.

Jack Cocchiarella is another user of Truth Social who found himself banned from the platform after discussing the proceedings at the hearings. Cocchiarella shared a Tweet about being banned in which he said, "Donald Trump is scared of free speech."

Since Truth Social is a private company, it is free to enforce rules on the platform in the manner that they see fit as long as state or federal laws are not violated.

However, it certainly is ironic to see Donald Trump's company censoring individuals for discussing a subject that undoubtedly makes him nervous, particularly after he harped on Twitter for censoring him.

"I'M BACK! #COVFEFE," reads Donald Trump's first post on his app Truth Social along with a photo of the former president on the phone at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

It seems that the "covfefe" hashtag Trump used in his social media message is a reference to his days on Twitter when he made a typo in a tweet in 2017.

Until Trump's post on Truth Social on April 28, he had barely used his own social media app to connect with the public, only posting once during the launch of Truth Social in February.

Truth Social has struggled since its launch earlier in the year. The app, which claims it is a safe haven for conservatives to express themselves with fewer worries about content moderation, has had its fair share of set-backs.

Forbes reports that it hasn't been an easy start for Truth Social: "its launch was hampered by glitches, a profusion of fake accounts and a waitlist of almost 1.5 million."

However, following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, Truth Social became one of the most downloaded free apps for iPhones on Tuesday, with Twitter in second place.

There has been much speculation that Donald Trump would return to his former beloved social media platform with Musk's promise of free speech with his takeover of Twitter.

But the former president of the United States has made it very clear he will NOT be returning to Twitter. Trump told Fox News, "I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH."

Trump continued, "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."

Donald Trump also told Fox News, "I think it is good (referencing Musk's acquisition of Twitter). We want liberty and justice and fairness in our country, and the more we can have open, the better, but no, I don't view that as a competition for what I am doing. This is a platform for my voice. TRUTH is a platform for my voice and for my supporters."

Elon Musk seems mildly sympathetic towards Trump's Twitter troubles. However, Musk couldn't help but make a little fun of his new social media company rival.

On April 27, Musk tweeted: "Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech. Should be called Trumpet instead!"

Truth Social representatives claim that the platform is "better than being on Twitter" and will positively impact social media.

Truth Social hopes to take the firm public as a SPAC (special acquisition company) with a value of $3.5 billion, despite prospective users having difficulty setting up an account with the app and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the meantime, Rumble, which is essentially a YouTube app for right-wingers, is doing exceptionally well and will most likely finish its own SPAC process by the summer of 2022, giving it the potential to overtake Truth Social's influence on the space.

Rumble engineers were vital in building Donald Trump's social media company, and Truth Social runs on Rumble's cloud platform, making Truth entirely reliant on Rumble. Only time will tell if Truth Social will survive its competition, at the moment, it isn't look good for Trump's latest pet-project.