Google Reinstate Truth Social to Play Store, SPAC Stock Increases

Digital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: DWAC), the blank check company set to take Truth Social public, saw a jump in its stock after Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) added the Trump-owned app to its Play Store. Digital World Acquisition Corp is primarily designed for effecting a merger, stock purchase, reorganization, and other similar businesses.

Truth Social was formerly on the marketplace until the tech giant removed it over content moderation concerns. According to Google, Trump’s app lacks effective systems to moderate user-generated content. The tech company said it informed social media companies of policy violations, adding that owing “effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play.” 

Truth Social is Back on Google Play Store

After being barred from the Google Play Store, Truth Social has agreed to comply with the standard policies. This means that the social media platform would block users or remove posts that incite violence. Former US president Donald Trump, who created Truth Social, was banned from using Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) in January 2021. The ban happened after hundreds of his supporters attacked the US Capitol. As a result of the violence, Twitter removed the former president “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Twitter’s action triggered Trump to launch the alt-tech social media platform. 

When Google removed Truth Social from its Play Store, Android users could not access the app. Notably, Android users make up 44% of all US smartphone users. Now, the app is back on the Android marketplace and available to the once-restricted group. While Google had the app off its platform, users could only access it by “sideloading” it via another website on their phones. 

DWAC Jumps as Play Store Re-Adds Trump’s App

In reaction to the news of Google reinstating Truth Social on the Play Store, the shares of Digital World Acquisition surged. At press time, the company’s stock is up 6.20% to $16.95 in an extended trading session. It has also gained 60.24% in the last 12 months. However, the blank check firm has been steadily declining since the year began, dropping almost 69% between January and now. 

Recently, DWAC pushed a vote to delay its Merger with Trump Media, Truth Social’s parent company. However, the company could not get the required 65% of shareholders to support the merger deadline extension. The majority of DWAC’s shareholders are reportedly private individuals. This set of people votes through their brokers. As a result of this, the company has been struggling with gathering the votes it needs to push the deadline for the merger. Truth Social is projected to see as much as $1.3 billion via its listing by DWAC.