Donald Trump’s new social media platform was meant to be a bulwark against the tyranny of Big Tech censorship.
But Truth Social already appears to be banning accounts that get under the skin of the social media company’s CEO, former Congressman Devin Nunes.
Matt Ortega, described as a “frequent internet trickster”, tried to set up a parody account on the platform under the name DevinNunesCow, mimicking a popular Twitter account that is being sued by Mr Nunes for defamation.
The account was quickly banned by Truth Social administrators.
“I may be the first officially ‘cancelled’ Truth Social user,” Mr Ortega wrote on Twitter.
“It appears Devin has still not developed a thicker skin,” Democratic activist Ron Filipowski tweeted.
The Truth Social app became available to subscribers who preordered it in Apple’s online store on Sunday.
Some users complained that the signing up process took hours, others encountered technical glitches.
Mr Ortega toldThe Independent the sign-up process was “very buggy”.
“It would produce errors at every step, including trying to read the terms of service.”
He was placed on a waitlist late on Sunday night, and received notification the next day that he had been banned from the sight.
While the app launch was meant to mark Mr Trump’s triumphant return to social media after being banned by Twitter and Facebook in 2021, he was largely absent from the site.
Under the site’s terms and conditions, Truth Social reserves the right to ban anyone deny access “to any person for any reason or for no reason”.
Mr Nunes has said the app should be “fully operational” by the end of March.
The former California Congressman was one of Mr Trump’s biggest supporters on Capitol Hill before retiring from public office to head the ex-president’s digital company Trump Media and Technology Group.
In March 2019, he filed lawsuits against two parody Twitter accounts Devin Nunes Cow (@DevinCow) and Devin Nunes Mom (NunesAlt) and tried to out the anonymous users behind them.
Nearly two years on, Mr Nunes is continuing to pursue the lawsuit, alleging the accounts have “coordinated a vicious defamation campaign”.
A GoFundme page has been set up to assist with the Devin Nunes Cow’s legal bills.
