Google approves Truth Social for the Google Play Store

By Brian Fung, CNN

Truth Social, the social media app backed by former President Donald Trump, has been approved for the Google Play Store, Google said Wednesday.

The decision means Truth Social will now be downloadable to Android smartphones via Google’s proprietary app store, after Truth Social moved to implement stronger content moderation policies.

Google had previously said Truth Social could not appear in its app store until it had implemented policies that sufficiently addressed incitement and threats of violence. It had also said social media apps on the Google Play store must provide an in-app system for reporting objectionable content. (Truth Social had already been available to some Android devices via non-Google sources, such as the Samsung Galaxy store.)

On Wednesday, a Google spokesperson told CNN those standards have now been met.

“Apps may be distributed on Google Play provided they comply with our developer guidelines,” the spokesperson said, “including the requirement to effectively moderate user-generated content and remove objectionable posts such as those that incite violence.”

Under Truth Social’s policies, user content that encourages violence “may result in” that content, or the account creating that content, being removed from the platform.

Truth Social has agreed to enforce its policies against incitement, Google added. Truth Social’s approval was first reported by Axios.

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