Photo: Alamy
Three years ago, America was ensconced in silence – censorship pressed down on media outlets, independent journalists, and most disturbingly of all, a sitting President of the United States.
In January 2021, President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and Facebook, and in the aftermath of the chaotic 2020 presidential election, many desperate Americans turned to third-party messaging apps to dig up information on everything from the 45th president’s next move to whether allegations of voter fraud in key battleground states would be resolved.
Topics like election fraud, vaccine mandates, and global Covid lockdown protests were repressed by Big Tech, and in late 2022, the slow release of the shocking “Twitter Files” proved just how closely social media companies had been working with government agencies like the FBI and the megalithic “Big Pharma” machine to control, censor, and shape the dissemination of curated information.
The deserted wilderness of Big Brother totalitarianism gave birth to a hunger for truth and unfiltered information, but after a litany of free speech social media platforms launched, floundered, and sank within months, Americans seemed doomed to remain at the mercy of Meta and Twitter.
The turning tide
Everything changed in late 2021 when President Donald Trump announced his plans to take on Big Tech by creating a competitive voice in the social media realm: Truth Social. In an official statement explaining his decision to spearhead the project, he said:
“The corruption of these [Big Tech] platforms cannot be ignored. We have fallen far down the ‘slippery slope’ of censorship in our country, and the topics that Americans are increasingly forbidden to debate are among the most important issues of our day. This wildly aggressive censorship and ‘cancel-culture’ is not only un-American—it has direct, real-world consequences.”
The president criticized the “new age of censorship” and lauded the old days when “we had our debates fiercely and openly, when we could move forward together, as Americans, with both sides knowing that their voice, and their best arguments, had been heard.”
Trump utilized his public position as the 45th president, as well as his business experience and resources, to drive the development of a free speech platform forward, giving silenced Americans a ray of hope amidst a landscape of Big Tech oppression.
Trump initially launched Truth Social in early 2022 with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), drawing millions to the platform upon its early stages of development and rollout. It even reached number one in the Apple App Store upon its release, signaling widespread public interest in the app.
Since then, the platform has continued to expand, and in early 2024, a long-awaited merger between TMTG and Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) was at last completed, catapulting the stock (DJT) high on the Nasdaq exchange.
Trump himself has amassed stock worth billions of dollars due to his company’s success, proving that investors have been eager to embrace TMTG’s mission to elevate free speech and provide a platform for content creators.
As if that wasn’t enough to prove Truth Social’s value, an April 10-K report filed by TMTG with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) boasted more than $200 million in the bank and zero debt for the company, shattering critics’ claims that the venture would prove meager at best.
A new frontier of free speech media
When it comes to developing free speech media, the digital landscape is as unsettled and bursting with opportunity as the wild west of yesteryear. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that President Trump picked battle-tested former Republican California Congressman Devin Nunes to blaze these new business trails.
In late 2021, then-Rep. Nunes announced that he would resign from Congress and start working as the CEO of TMTG just one month later. With a history of strongly defending Trump in Washington, the California native shifted his focus to launch Truth Social and rapidly expand TMTG. President Trump’s media company is quickly becoming a digital force to contend with.
As the demand for free speech media continues to increase, Truth Social has placed itself in perhaps the best position it could have hoped for – amidst a heated 2024 election cycle, the platform has become Trump’s digital megaphone and a safe space for proponents of First Amendment rights.

Recently, TMTG announced that it would kick-start a three-phase expansion aimed at launching a live-streaming TV platform, which is an exciting prospect for those who have been searching for a streaming service apart from censorship-obsessed Big Tech sites.
TMTG CEO Devin Nunes told RSBN that their goal was “to build a live TV streaming platform that can be a home to networks who face politically motivated cancellation or are sick of having to censor their views to please advertisers who lack the backbone to stand up to the left-wing pressure campaigns.”
He added, “We’ve made great progress so far and, like with Truth Social, are building the technology ourselves so that we’re immune to cancellation by Big Tech. And, by fusing the streaming platform with Truth Social, we’ll be a fully integrated free speech haven where people can go to for unfiltered news and entertainment.”
A bright and burgeoning future
TMTG and DWAC’s long-awaited merger changed everything for Truth Social, and, according to Nunes, the “future is brighter than ever.” He has been able to focus on using his time to zero in on utilizing the resources gained from the merger to improve the platform.
“Even before the merger, when we had no access to significant capital, we built a lean, efficient platform that works exceptionally well, has an iconic free speech brand, and is wholly independent of Big Tech, so it can’t be shut down,” he pointed out.
Truth Social’s rollout has been steady. From its quick launch in early 2022 to its current state, the platform has taken a step-by-step approach to its expansion, starting with timeline posting, video integration, “groups” features, direct messaging, trending topics, and curated news feeds. There is even a verification process for public figures who want to validate their profiles for personal and professional use.

Despite what critics may say, Truth Social is beginning to attract users from both sides of the political aisle—not just those who support President Trump. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom has famously joined the platform, along with the Biden-Harris HQ account.
Will Truth Social continue to see an increase in political diversity on its platform? As other Big Tech platforms remain staunchly repressive, Truth Social’s audience will likely continue to expand, thereby bolstering Trump’s stated mission to provide a space where debates can be had “fiercely and openly” in the online sphere.
Nunes told RSBN, “As President Trump likes to say, Truth Social is the real voice of America. By that, he means that the most important conversations about the future of our country are happening every day on the platform.” So, I think you’ll see more people who are less politically inclined flock to Truth Social as we continue to facilitate those vital conversations through enhancements to existing features and incorporating new features like live TV streaming.”
While Big Tech dynasties remain “fat, lazy, arrogant, and prone to censorship,” according to Nunes, Truth Social is poised to expand exponentially. The wind is in their sails, the demand is high, and the free speech movement is rising to meet it.
“Now that we’re public, we’re in a tremendous position to grow with a long-term trajectory in mind,” Nunes concluded.
With the TMTG and DWAC merger firmly in the rearview mirror and the 2024 presidential election on the near horizon, Truth Social is blazing new trails through the wild frontier of free speech media and providing a firm foundation for the future and protection of civic discourse in America.