Donald Trump's social network accused of censoring, blocking users

IT couldn't get more ironic: Donald Trump's social network, Truth Social, claims to be a space for free speech, free from political discrimination. And yet, some of its users complained on Twitter that they had been banned for posting about the Congressional hearings about the attack on the Capitol. An event for which many Americans consider former President Donald Trump responsible to some extent.

Disgruntled users took to Twitter to share their anger. "My Truth Social account was just permanently suspended for talking about the January 6th Committee hearings," posted Travis Allen, an information security analyst, on his Twitter account.

Users of the social network that banned Donald Trump in 2021, following his statements on the alleged theft of the US presidential election, aren't hesitating to point out the irony.

Several users have also shared their own problems with Trump's new platform. "I was suspended from Truth Social for posting about the January 6th hearing last night. Donald Trump is scared of free speech," wrote one Twitter user. "

Just put out my first post on Truth social and they deleted it. Real freedom of speech champs there," posted another.

Some of Donald Trump's social network accounts were blocked following his statements questioning the victory of Joe Biden in the US presidential election. The Capitol was then attacked by supporters of the outgoing president, causing numerous injuries and five deaths.

The hearings intended to shed light on the violence that took place on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 began in Washington after a year of investigation and Donald Trump's role therein.

Discussions have heated up on Twitter with users now challenging themselves to sign up for Donald Trump's social network to see how long their account will hold up before being shut down. "Look what I just posted on Truth Social...waiting for them to ban me. #January6thCommitteeHearings," it reads.

"I officially joined truth social to see how long it takes for them to ban me ..." (here) or "gonna do a Truth Social ban speed run by simply posting 'January 6th'" (here).

While Truth Social has not addressed these accusations, the rules of Donald Trump's social network do state that the platform reserves the right to "deny access to and use of the service (including blocking certain IP addresses), to any person for any reason or for no reason..." and "delete [your account and] any content or information that you posted at any time, without warning, in our sole discretion."

Donald Trump, however, had sued Twitter for suspending his account, asserting that it was in violation of the First Amendment on free speech following the Capitol Hill riots.

For the moment, Truth Social is only accessible from the United States. While he had more than 88 million followers on Twitter before being banned, Donald Trump has 3.2 million followers on his own social network.