Donald Trump and his social media app Truth Social on a smartphone.
Brandon Bell/Christoph Dernbach/Getty Images
- Truth Social’s tech troubles were compounded by its refusal to use Amazon servers, Reuters reported.
- Trump Media said it was “founded to fight” companies like Amazon that have a “woke ideology”.
- The app’s launch was beset by limited functionality and sent thousands of new users to a waitlist.
Truth Social’s decision not to use Amazon servers was partly to blame for its rocky development and chaotic launch, a Reuters investigation has revealed.
The social media platform launched by Donald Trump’s media group used Amazon Web Services early in its development, but then abandoned them for ideological reasons, a source told the news agency.
Trump Media & Technology Group declared in an SEC filing in May that had been “founded to fight” tech companies with a “woke ideology” such as Amazon, which had banned the conservative app Parler among others.
However, the decision to stop using Amazon servers made Truth Social’s February launch even more shambolic, according to Reuters.
Trump Media was already struggling to recruit software engineers before it stopped using Amazon servers, which many app developers are most familiar with.
The company’s dearth of tech talent for developing its “conservative-friendly” alternative to Twitter caused havoc in the months leading up to its launch, Reuters reported.
Despite working brutal hours, the app’s release was still beset by problems including a lengthy waiting list and limited functionality.
Even once the initial problems had been overcome, its original content and user engagement continued to lag significantly behind rivals such as Gettr and Parler.
Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said on the eve of the launch that he expected the app to be fully operational by March, but its direct messaging functionality is still not available to users.
The company did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.
