Two senior executives resign from Trump’s Truth Social start-up

theguardian.com:

Two senior executives at Donald Trump’s tech start-up Truth Social have resigned, adding to considerable problems faced by the former president’s attempted takeover of conservative social media.

Josh Adams and Billy Boozer – Truth Social’s chiefs of technology and product development – joined the venture last year and quickly became central players in its effort to build a social media empire to counter what many conservatives deride as “cancel culture” censorship from the left.

But on Monday, two sources familiar with the venture said the pair had resigned their senior posts at a critical juncture for the company’s smartphone-app release plans.

The departures followed the troubled launch of the company’s iPhone app on 20 February. Many users remain on a waiting list, unable to access the platform.

The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) chief executive, Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, said publicly the company aimed to make the app fully operational within the US by the end of March.

The company has an app for iPhones but no app for Android phones, which comprise more than 40% of the US market. TMTG has advertised for an engineer to build one.

Boozer declined to comment and Adams did not respond to a request. Representatives for TMTG and Trump did not respond to requests for comment. Eight people with knowledge of Truth Social’s activities spoke on condition of anonymity.

Truth Social is part of a growing sector of tech firms catering to conservatives and marketing themselves as free-speech champions. The platform promised Trump unfettered communication with his public more than a year after he was kicked off Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for allegedly inciting or glorifying violence during the January 6 riot