Google blocks Truth Social from Play Store, will Apple be next?

Google's decision to block the Truth Social app from launching on the Play Store due to content moderation issues raises the question of why Apple hasn't taken action similar on the iOS version of the application which has been posted on the App Store since February. According to a report from Axios, Google found numerous posts that violated its Play Store content policies, blocking the app's path to go live on its platform. But some of those same types of posts appear to be available on the iOS app, TechCrunch found.

This could trigger a re-examination of Truth Social's iOS app at some point, as Apple and Google's policies are largely aligned on how apps with user-generated content should moderate their content. content.

Axios this week announced for the first time Google's decision to block the distribution of the Truth Social app on its platform, following an interview with the app's CEO, Devin Nunes . The former congressman and member of Trump's transition team, now social media CEO, suggested blocking the Android version of the app was on Google's side, saying, "We're waiting that they approve of us, and I don't know what's taking so long."

But that was a misinterpretation of the situation, Google said. After reviewing Truth Social's latest submission to the Play Store, Google found several policy violations, which it notified Truth Social on August 19. Google also informed Truth Social how these issues could be resolved in order to access the Play Store. , the company noted.

"Last week, Truth Social responded by acknowledging our feedback and saying they are working to resolve these issues," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. This communication between the parties took place a week before Nunes' interview where he implied that the ball was now in Google's court. (The subtext to his comments, of course, was that conservative media was once again being censored by Big Tech.)

The issue here stems from Google's policy for apps that feature user-generated content, or UGC. According to this policy, applications of this nature must implement "robust, effective, and continuous UGC moderation as reasonable and consistent with the type of UGC hosted by the application." Truth Social's moderation, however, isn't robust. The company has publicly stated that it relies on automated AI. moderation system, Hive, which is used to detect and censor content that violates its own policies. On its website, Truth Social notes that human moderators "oversee" the moderation process, suggesting it uses an industry-standard mix of AI and human moderation. (It's worth noting that app store intelligence firm Apptopia told TechCrunch that the Truth Social mobile app doesn't use Hive AI. But it says the implementation could be server-side, which would exceed the scope of what she can see.)

Truth Social's use of AI-based moderation does not necessarily mean that the system is sufficient to bring it into compliance with Google's own policies. The quality of AI detection systems varies and these systems ultimately apply a set of rules that a company itself decides to implement. According to Google, several Truth Social posts it encountered contained physical threats and incitement to violence - areas prohibited by Play Store policy.

Image credits: Truth Social Play Store listing