Truth Social Android app not approved on Google Play Store -Axios

© Reuters. The Truth social network logo is seen displayed in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Helen Coster

(Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social has not yet been approved for distribution on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc's Google Play Store due to insufficient content moderation, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing a Google spokesperson.

The delay marks a setback for the app, which launched in the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store on Feb. 21. Android phones comprise about 40% of the U.S. smartphone market. Without the Google and Apple stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth Social. Google and Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Truth Social restored Trump's presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Facebook (NASDAQ:META) and Alphabet Inc's YouTube following the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riots, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.

TMTG has pledged to deliver an “engaging and censorship-free experience” on Truth Social, appealing to a base that feels its views around such hot-button topics in American life as vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream tech platforms.

TMTG is working with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that does AI-based content moderation, to flag sexually explicit content, hate speech, bullying and violent content on the app.

Human moderators decide what to do with the content Hive has flagged. While the scope of TMTG’s human moderation efforts is unclear, according to a posting on the TMTG website, the company is hiring a “community content administrator” whose job will include reviewing “user-posted content on Truth Social verifying it adheres to established community guidelines.”

TMTG is planning to go public via a merger with blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the merger, according to DWAC filings.