Former US President Donald Trump announced the launch of his own social network application called “TRUTH,” indicating that he will challenge major social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, which suspended his accounts following the January 6 Capitol riots. To paraphrase the famous saying from American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the launch of Trump’s platform may be a small step for the Trump Media and Technology Group, but a big leap for the whole world. This isn’t an exaggeration. Trump’s timing is perfect. Existing social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are currently coming under heavy attack for the bias of their executives and the consolidation of their power. Legislators across the world want to decentralize this power and open up the market for competition. Further, pent up anger among Trump’s supporters over his loss in the recent elections is still growing strong. Many of them believe not only that the elections were stolen from Trump, but also that social media companies helped cover up the theft. President Trump commented on this move by saying: “I am excited to be sending my first facts on the Truth app soon … the app was built to give everyone a voice.” According to several reports, a beta version of Truth will be opened to a shortlist of invited guests in November, followed by a nationwide rollout in the first quarter of 2022. The new network also plans to introduce a video subscription service on demand, offer entertainment programs, news and podcasts. It’s still too soon to determine whether the company will succeed in imposing itself on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, but it is certain that the timing is right — and the new Trump app has every chance of succeeding in amassing a broad following. – Meshary Al-Dhaidy (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)