Following the news that Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) has entered into agreements to raise around $1 billion from a group of unidentified investors; Dr Lil Read, an Analyst in the Thematic Research Team at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:
“Reaching the unicorn club used to be a notable figure of success. However, it must be said: Sorry Mr. Trump, but unicorns aren’t rare anymore. GlobalData figures show that, there were 826 unicorns — privately held companies that are valued at >$1 billion — as of the end of September 2021, and 751 of these were tech unicorns. The term ‘unicorn’ may be born from the rare, mythical creature, but unicorns are everywhere when it comes to business. Maybe we need a new measure of success.
“As for TMTG’s wish to stand up to the ‘tyranny’ of big tech with its TRUTH social media launch, the company has bitten off more than it can chew — as demonstrated by the way Twitter users were able to create ‘@donaldtrump’ and @mikepence’ accounts, exposing simple vulnerabilities. While these accounts were swiftly banned, it should highlight to the TRUTH Social team that building and maintaining a social media platform is not a simple task. Or, perhaps creating an entirely new platform is not the way to deal with misinformation.
“Whether or not TRUTH Social has sophisticated algorithms and teams of content moderators, misinformation and fake news will breed on the platform under the guise of free speech. The risk is that TRUTH Social will become an outpost for lies.”