Things didn't really go off well for the new Trump network called "Gettr".
The app is intended to counteract Twitter and Facebook, which Donald Trump banned after his supporters stormed the Capitol in January, and to give space to the freedom of expression, which sees America's rights in the networks restricted.
But right on the launch day, the platform that former Trump adviser Jason Miller launched was apparently hacked. Several accounts, including that of Miller and that of former Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo, showed the message of a @JubaBaghdad: "free palestine" - liberate Palestine. The matter was resolved within minutes, Miller said in a statement. Speaking to Business Insider, the hacker claimed it was "pretty easy" to gain entry. In addition, the portal was flooded with all sorts of pornographic images, so-called shit posts, i.e. disruptors, and confused messages.
Similar to the Parler app, which sank into insignificance in the wake of the Capitol Storm, Gettr presents itself as a censorship-free forum, "based on the principles of free speech and independent thoughts as well as the rejection of political censorship and the 'cancel culture'". Of course, limits are also drawn here, at least in the terms of use. The app reserves the right to block content of "pornographic, abusive, obscene, violent, threatening, illegal nature". Last week, according to a report by Slate magazine, Gettr blocked the account of Tim Gionet, who goes by the stage name "Baked Alaska" and was one of the more prominent participants in the Capitol Storm. Likewise, user accounts are said to have been blocked, which, allegedly under the guidance of the prominent ultra-right Nick Fuentes,call for an open breach of the terms of use. It is obviously not that easy with free speech after all. On Gab, a competing free speech platform that has become a reservoir for ultra-right voices and other provocateurs, malice spread.
An account for Donald Trump is already reserved
Gettr is apparently financed by a billionaire Chinese exile named Guo Wengui, who almost a year ago launched a dissident Chinese-language media network together with Steve Bannon - according to reports in Politico magazine, this was the forerunner of Gettr.
Miller admitted in various media talks that Guo Wengui had provided the start-up funding, but he no longer plays a formal role.
Allegedly Gettr stands for "Getting Together".
Trump supporters could also read it as "Get her", especially since the platform was flooded with crude Clinton photo takes on its first official day, along with pornographic content.
One remembers: "Lock her up!" Was the anti-Clinton battle cry of Trump fans.
Ironically, Trump himself has not yet been on the new platform, and it is questionable whether he will ever join it. Miller says he has reserved an account with the signature @realDonaldTrump. "The former president will make his own decision," an app employee told Politico. “The account is reserved and waiting for him.” After his much-announced social media comeback, Trump had recently made a belly landing with a blog called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump”; after less than a month, the project was discontinued in early June.
The app, headquartered in New York, should allow its users to post messages of up to 777 characters and three-minute videos, and users should be able to import their Twitter content and their followers to Gettr. The anonymous app employee said in an interview with Politico, the intention is to poach users from Twitter and bring them to Gettr.
Whether this works will depend on the interest that Gettr piques. At first, there wasn't much exciting material to be found there. Jason Miller, for example, posted: “Hydroxychloroquine works! - President Trump. And nobody will delete this or block this account! ”This and similar Miller posts, for example on the laptop of Joe Biden's son Hunter or the popular Trump bon mot about the“ witch hunt ”, apparently want to tie in with old times and mobilize Trump fans . Above all, it seems anachronistic. The biggest problem with the platform is that it lives off trolls and yesterday. There is nothing to be seen here of a “marketplace of ideas”, as Gettr calls itself.