Thursday, October 21, 2021

Tech founder considering legal action against new Donald Trump social network that ‘copies’ his work

Independent Staff
Thu, October 21, 2021,

(Trump Media and Technology Group)

Donald Trump’s new Twitter-like social network appears to be an unacknowledged clone of someone else’s work, and the original creator is considering legal action.

Eugen Rochko, creator of Mastodon, told The Independent that he had asked his lawyers to assess whether Mr Trump’s new Truth Social service has broken Mastodon’s copyright.

Although Mastodon is open source and can be freely copied by anyone, its software licence requires imitators to make their own source code available and give credit to the original.


Screenshots taken from a leaked early version of Truth Social showed that it still contained pieces of HTML code from Mastodon, and Mr Rochko said that Truth uses Mastodon’s default error message, indicating that it is almost certainly a clone.

“Well, that looks familiar,” the official Mastodon account tweeted on Wednesday evening.

Mr Rochko said: “We pride ourselves on providing software that allows anyone to run their own social media platform independent of Big Tech.

“But the condition upon which we release our work for free in the first place is that as we give to the platform operators, so do the platform operators give back to us by providing their improvements for us and everyone to see.

“That doesn't only benefit us as the developers – it benefits the people that use these platforms, as it gives them insight into the functionality of the platforms that manage their data and gives them the ability to walk away and start their own.

“So as you can see, compliance is very important to us. I have notified my legal counsel to review the given situation. At the moment I cannot comment any further.”

Truth Social has been asked for comment.


A screenshot provided by Eugen Rochko that appears to show Truth Social using Mastodon’s default error image (Eugen Rochko / Truth Social)

Mr Trump’s team announced their new venture with great fanfare on Wednesday, describing it as a future “media powerhouse” with a “non-woke” online streaming service that will compete with Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu.

Within hours, however, hackers had uncovered a live beat version, and social media users were able to hijack valuable usernames such as donaldtrump, donaldjtrump and mikepence.

Mastodon is a free piece of software that can be used to create and run new social networks, designed to escape the centralised rule of Big Tech services such as Facebook and Twitter.

In 2017, Mr Rochko argued that smaller social networks set up by like-minded groups of people would be “less prone to harbouring toxic” behaviour than all-encompassing tech platforms designed to house everyone.

Donald Trump’s social media app ‘Truth Social’ hijacked by fake account before launch


Donald Trump’s social media app ‘Truth Social’ hijacked by fake account before launch

Gustaf Kilander
THE INDEPENDENT
Thu, October 21, 2021, 

Former President Donald Trump’s new social media platform “TRUTH Social” was accessed by Twitter users within hours of its announcement and well before officially opening up for new users to sign up.

Accounts were created under the usernames “donaldtrump” and “mikepence” and the handle “donaldjtrump” appeared to have been hacked or nabbed by someone out to mock the former president.

Mr Trump announced on Wednesday that he was launching a media network – the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) – including a social media platform called “TRUTH Social”, which he said was an effort to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech”.

The former president was banned from several major social media platforms following the Capitol riot, when a pro-Trump mob stormed Congress in an effort to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Just a few hours after the announcement, Twitter users had managed to hijack the beta-version of the platform with apparently fake accounts for Mr Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.


The pinned post for the user “donaldjtrump” was an image of a defecating pig, seemingly in an attempt to mock the former president.

The new platform is said to be scheduled for launch next year, and Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington posted a statement on Twitter saying that the app will be able to pre-order in the App Store by next month.

While Donald Trump Jr told Sean Hannity of Fox News on Wednesday that the platform will be in the beta testing stage for the next several weeks, the site still appeared to be accessible for a time.

Daily Dot tech reporter Michael Thalen tweeted that he “was just able to set up an account using the handle @donaldtrump on ‘Truth Social,’ former President Donald Trump’s new social media website. Although the site is not officially open, a URL was discovered allowing users to sign up anyway”.

In a subsequent tweet, Mr Thalen added: “The public domain for what appeared to be the mobile beta of Trump’s new social media platform ‘Truth Social’ has been taken offline.”

The terms of service of Truth Social says the network has a ban on “excessive use of capital letters”, something Mr Trump employed frequently during his time on Twitter.

Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell tweeted that “anyone can create an account on Trump’s social network TRUTH Social using a publicly available link. I literally just registered “mikepence.” The site hasn’t even launched yet and it’s already this vulnerable”.

The beta testing site later appeared to have been taken offline.

Other conservative platforms have also experienced technical difficulties. Frank, a site started in April by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, experienced widespread errors as it was launched, with people unable to sign up and instead being greeted by a 48-hour livestream from Mr Lindell while the platform itself remained inactive.

Former Trump adviser Jason Miller started GETTR, another Twitter-like conservative platform, which was hacked on its first day of operation.

“I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” Mr Trump said in the statement tweeted by Ms Harrington. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable.”

“TRUTH Social plans to begin its Beta Launch for invited guests in November 2021. A nationwide rollout is expected in the first quarter of 2022,” the statement also said.

The Independent has reached out to the office of Mr Trump for comment.

Trump’s New Free Speech App Prohibits Users From Making Fun of It

Ryan Bort
ROLLING STONE
Thu, October 21, 2021,

Former President Donald J. Trump files class action lawsuits against social media companies. - Credit: The Washington Post via Getty

There’s plenty to unpack following Wednesday night’s announcement that former President Trump is launching a new “media and technology” group, one that includes a social media platform, Truth Social, promising “open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology.”

Trump has long railed against Big Tech censorship, particularly of himself as he pushed misinformation, hate speech, and violent rhetoric before Twitter banned him in January. “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up against the tyranny of Big Tech,” Trump wrote. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced.”

The thing about all of this, though, is that when it comes to everyone’s favorite American President, truth is subjective, and “free speech” comes with more than a few caveats. So, too, is the case for Truth Social, the terms of service for which include a clause stating that users may not “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site.”

In other words, users can’t make fun of or criticize Truth Social, and it’s up to Truth Social to determine what constitutes said “disparagement.”

The section is an early indication that Truth Social might have a little trouble following through on its promise to provide a “Big Tent” utopia of free-flowing social discourse. If it’s not going to permit bashing the platform, what about bashing, or harassing, other users? What about bashing everyone’s favorite American President? Parler — remember Parler? — promised to provide a similar bastion of free speech but then wound up imposing a bunch of restrictions and banning people, including, at one point, its own founder.

Parler itself was banned by Apple, Google, and Amazon following the Jan. 6 insurrection for allowing hateful, violent rhetoric to spread. Truth Social seems to be implying that it will permit such hateful, violent rhetoric (this is what got Trump banned from Twitter, after all), which seems like it would leave it prone to a similar ban. Parler is back on the App Store now after revising its content moderation policy, presumably having learned that it can’t just give a bunch of white supremacists free rein to post hate speech without facing consequences.

Will Truth Social be forced to learn a similar lesson?

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK 

Trump’s SPAC Deal Reaches Back to ’80s With EF Hutton as Adviser
Max Reyes
Thu, October 21, 2021, 


(Bloomberg) -- The deal to take former President Donald Trump’s media firm public relies on a storied name from decades ago.

A firm that revived the EF Hutton brand, known for television commercials in the 1970s and ’80s touting its sage advice, is acting as the sole financial and capital-markets adviser to Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company that agreed to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, according to a statement Wednesday. In June, investment bank Kingswood Capital Markets rebranded as EF Hutton.

The SPAC deal is meant to build a “rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley,” according to the statement.

EF Hutton gained renown with television commercials that featured the tag line, “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.” The firm was embroiled in a bogus-deposit scandal in the mid-’80s that precipitated its eventual sale.

Trump SPAC Soars as Retail Traders Pump Shares Higher


Bailey Lipschultz
Thu, October 21, 2021,

Trump SPAC Soars as Retail Traders Pump Shares Higher


(Bloomberg) -- Retail investors are piling into the special purpose acquisition company that agreed to take former President Donald Trump’s media firm public as thousands of users pump shares across social media platforms.

Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC that’s set to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, is Thursday’s top purchase on Fidelity’s platform with about 55,000 buy orders from customers. That was nearly quadruple the purchases for PayPal Holdings Inc., the second-most-bought stock, and more than eight-times the demand for the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (ticker BITO).

The excitement from retail traders who have bought into the YOLO mantra -- you only live once -- was clear with the stock being the most-mentioned company on the popular day-trader chatroom Stocktwits, and as touts on Reddit’s WallStreetBets rivaled the likes of GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. over the past 12 hours.

The SPAC more than quadrupled to $45.50 Thursday after triggering at least five volatility halts on the day. More than 470 million shares changed hands, making it the most traded stock with a value above a penny. The aim of the deal is to rival “the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley,” according to a statement.

Trump's social media deal ignites 350% gain in SPAC's shares

Medha Singh and Sinéad Carew
Thu, October 21, 2021

(Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump's deal to create a social media app after Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc barred him won an exuberant endorsement from investors, with shares in a shell company backing the plan closing up more than 350% on Thursday after rising more than 400% earlier in the day.

Trump Media and Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp, a Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle (SPAC), announced on Wednesday
they would merge to create a social media app called TRUTH Social. Trump's company said it plans a beta launch - unveiling a trial version - next month and a full roll-out in the first quarter of 2022.

SPACs use money raised through an initial public offering to take a private company public. This deal's announcement lacked the trappings of the detailed business plans Wall Street is accustomed to in SPAC mergers, from naming a leadership team to giving detailed financing earnings and projections.

Even so, shares of Miami-based Digital World closed up 356.8% at $45.50 a share on Nasdaq after soaring more than 400% earlier in the session. At the closing price, its market capitalization stood at $1.47 billion, up from $321 million on Wednesday.

With volume of more than 477 million shares, it was the most actively traded stock on the exchange, drawing chatter on forums such as Reddit, where retail investors have driven so-called meme stocks to values not supported by mainstream financial analysis. On Twitter and Stocktwits, some users cheered the rally with posts displaying rocket ships and GIFs of Trump.

The venture may provide the first real test of the power of right-wing social media https://www.reuters.com/technology/what-is-trumps-new-venture-what-are-its-odds-success-2021-10-21 with the full force of Trump's support. Questions remain about how it plans to make money and avoid the same issues that led major social media platforms to banish him.

Some investors marveled at the rally and wondered whether the gains would last.

"I have never seen anything like this, such share reaction based on hopes and dreams," Kristi Marvin, a former investment banker who founded research firm SPACInsider, told other investors on a Twitter Spaces discussion.

Others said the market reaction reflected support for Trump as well as a bet that a platform with him would draw followers.

"Up to this point there hasn't been a publicly traded vehicle for those that support the former president," said Jake Dollarhide, co-founder of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut, said not just Trump supporters but also opponents, media and investors would want to get on the platform to keep track of what Trump says.

Still, its future is far from certain. Digital World, led by former investment banker Patrick Orlando, has launched at least four SPACs and plans to launch two more but none of them have completed a deal yet. Orlando did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

DIRECT AND UNFILTERED

People close to the Republican former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Trump has sought to set up his own social media company since leaving the White House. Trump, contemplating another White House run in 2024, has been frustrated that he does not have a direct and unfiltered connection with his millions of followers after Twitter and Facebook barred him, these people said.

Social media giants suspended Trump's accounts after his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 following an incendiary speech he gave repeating false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

Twitter found that Trump posts violated its "glorification of violence" https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension policy
 in connection with the deadly attack in which rioters sought to block the formal congressional certification of his election loss to President Joe Biden.

In a press release announcing the deal, Trump said, "I'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech."

Facebook shares were up 0.3%. Twitter shares were down 0.6%.

Trump Media said it would receive $293 million in cash that Digital World Acquisition had in a trust if no shareholder of the acquisition firm chooses to cash in their shares.

The soaring share price could increase the likelihood of a deal closing. Investors in the SPAC must eventually choose whether to redeem their shares at the IPO price of $10 per share, which is now much lower than the level at which what many would have bought.

Attempts to float alternatives to Twitter and Facebook have faltered in the past. Parler, a social media app backed by prominent Republican Party donor Rebekah Mercer and popular with U.S. conservatives, had several tech companies cut ties with it https://www.reuters.com/technology/parler-returns-apples-app-store-names-new-ceo-2021-05-17 after the Jan. 6 riot.

GETTR, a Twitter-style platform started by former Trump adviser Jason Miller, claimed more than 1.5 million users in its first 11 days after being launched https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-trump-aide-miller-launches-social-media-site-gettr-2021-07-01 in July. Miller was unable to get Trump to join the platform.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru, Heather Timmons, Steve Holland, Svea Herbst, Greg Roumeliotis, Lewis Krauskopf and Sinead Carew; Writing by Paritosh Bansal and Ira Iosebashvili; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Will Dunham)

Two Americas: How the US left and right stopped communicating

Issued on: 22/10/2021 -
Former president Donald Trump Trump has spent years battling tech giants that he argues have wrongfully censored him 
Olivier DOULIERY AFP/File

Washington (AFP)

The entirely false notion that Democrats stole the presidency from Trump is likely to be a hot topic on "TRUTH Social," a conservative platform he is adding to the already hyper-polarized US media ecosystem.

Wednesday's announcement of the launch planned for early next year is noteworthy because it bolsters speculation that Trump -- who is banned from Twitter -- is gearing up for another presidential run in 2024.

More profoundly, it demonstrates how the former reality TV star is able to capitalize on deep fractures in American society that are being intensified like never before through the echo chambers of social and traditional media.

Where once Americans could agree on a shared set of facts, now two implacable tribes eye each other suspiciously from their respective siloes, each armed with their own version of reality served up by their favorite media outlet or smartphone app.

Investigative journalist Carl Bernstein, whose reporting on the Watergate affair alongside Bob Woodward helped bring down Richard Nixon, has called for media and politicians to pay more attention to countering misinformation splitting the country.

"The division that is separating and polarizing us in this country is vicious. It is deep," he said. "It is full of hate and anger. And most of that hate and anger is resting on big lies."

Watch conservative Fox News on any given evening, and you could almost be convinced that it is reporting on an entirely different country from the one covered by left-leaning MSNBC, often with almost no overlap in the news agenda.
'Owning the libs'

Depending on whether Americans hone their opinions on Parler or Twitter, Trump is either the last bulwark against a woke cultural tide presaging a socialist takeover -- or the biggest threat to democracy since the Civil War.

The inhabitants of these two competing bubbles rarely encounter information that might challenge their world view or show them what their opponents are thinking. Put more simply, no one talks to the other side anymore.

Carl Bernstein has called for media and politicians to pay more attention to the misinformation dividing America 
Alberto E. Rodriguez GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

It's not just last year's election that gets completely contradictory coverage from right-wing and progressive media sources.

Reporting on the nationwide demonstrations that followed the murder by police of African American George Floyd offered the same dichotomy, with the left being fed images of noble protest for racial justice and the right told the country was on the verge of a violent takeover by communist thugs.

This bifurcation has reached the point where someone's views on a range of hot-button issues -- from abortion, LGBT rights and immigration to gun control and health care -- can be reliably inferred from their choice of cable news channel.

Division has been a hallmark of the Trump era. A record 81 million people voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but the 74 million that voted for Trump marked the second-highest figure ever posted by a candidate.

On the right, figures like the former president's son Donald Trump Jr prioritize "owning the libs" -- sparking outrage and hand-wringing among progressives -- over serious debates about ideology.
Parallel Americas

And in the more militant recesses of the left, every disagreement over race and sexuality is attributed to the supposed innate bigotry of conservatives.

Fox News maintains a loyal viewership but many Trumpists have decamped since the election to further-right conspiracy-mongering outlets such as Newsmax, One America News and the Parler and Gettr social networks.

Newsmax's prime time shows attract up to a million viewers while former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's program on AON is not far behind.

The polarization of the media is a symptom of wider fissures that have seen much of America's wealth concentrated on the liberal-leaning coasts, seen by the more conservative so-called "flyover states" as elite and out-of-touch.

Parler, which offers a home for right-wingers kicked off mainstream social media, was downloaded around a million times in the five days following the election and its user count subsequently hit almost nine million.

There, consumers are fed a daily diet of "culture wars" over the removal of historic statues, athletes who take the knee during the national anthem and the teaching of America's racial history in classrooms.

People who don't use the platform would not likely know what "Laptopgate" means, or be aware of the narrative characterizing Trump as fighting an epic battle against a horde of Satanic pedophiles from Hollywood and the Democratic Party.

"When I'm channel surfing at night, I see two Americas that exist in parallel right now, on side-by-side tracks, "CNN media analyst Brian Stelter wrote after the election.

"Two Americas with completely different assumptions and expectations and information sources."

© 2021 AFP

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