B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • AI
  • News Corp
  • Married At First Sight
  • NRL
  • Cairns Hatchlings
  • Channel 10
  • oOh!Media
  • WPP
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Thinkerbell
  • Special
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Trump’s Social Media Platform Faces Allegations Of Misused Code
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Media > Trump’s Social Media Platform Faces Allegations Of Misused Code
MediaTechnology

Trump’s Social Media Platform Faces Allegations Of Misused Code

Staff Writers
Published on: 3rd November 2021 at 12:30 AM
Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
Featured image source: YouTube/The White House
SHARE

social media framework site Mastodon has issued Truth Social, former President Donald Trump’s social media platform, a 30 day warning over allegations that it misused Mastodon’s code.

Mastodon is a free, open-source software that allows individuals to host their own social networks. It has been described as a ‘micro-blogging’ platform, with some similarities to Twitter.

According to Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko in an open letter posted to its site, TRUTH Social seems to be claiming Mastodon’s open-source code as its own, without credit.

While TRUTH Social has not officially been launched yet, some users have been able to access the site and create accounts.

As pointed out by ReviewGeek, the platform was compromised almost immediately after it was announced. A number of users were able to access a beta version of TRUTH Social, with journalist Mikael Thalen setting up an account with the handle @donaldtrump.

It was these early users who noticed that TRUTH Social uses the Mastodon code.

Rochko’s statement says: “It seems that the new social media platform owned by the former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, so-called Truth Social, is using Mastodon’s source code with various visual adjustments.”

Mastodon is primarily concerned about a passage in TRUTH Social’s terms of service, which claims that its source code and software are owned and controlled by the platform, or licensed to it – not to Mastodon.

Specifically, the terms of service read: “unless otherwise indicated, the Site is our proprietary property and all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics on the Site (collectively, the “Content”) and the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the “Marks”) are owned or controlled by us or licensed to us, and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of the United States, foreign jurisdictions, and international conventions.”

Rochko’s statement points out that, “notably, neither the terms nor any other part of the website contained any references to Mastodon, nor any links to the source code, which are present in Mastodon’s user interface by default.”

“Mastodon is free software published under the AGPLv3 license, which requires any over-the-network service using it to make its source code and any modifications to it publicly accessible.”

According to Rochko, Mastodon sent a formal letter to TRUTH Social’s chief legal officer on October 26, asking that the source code is made publicly available, in compliance with the license.

The AGPLv3 (GNU Affero General Public License)  requires that within 30 days, TRUTH Social must either comply or risk having its license revoked permanently.

Non-profit, the Software Freedom Conservancy, which enforces software licenses like these, has said TRUTH Social must comply with the license: “that’s how AGPLv3’s cure provision works – no exceptions – even if you’re a real estate mogul, reality television star, or even a former POTUS”

Prior to sending the letter, Rochko told Vice Motherboard that “based on the screenshots I have seen, [TRUTH Social] is absolutely based on Mastodon.”

According to Rochko, as reported in the Vice article, a screenshot of an error message on TRUTH Social used Mastodon’s default icon, an elephant.

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Donald Trump, Trump, TRUTH social
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Emboldened, Emotional & Inspired – Cairns Crocodiles Masterclass, Presented By News Australia, Tug The Heartstrings
16/05/2025
TV Ratings (15/05/2025): Women’s State Of Origin Game 2 Pulls Nearly Twice The Viewers Of AFL Clash
16/05/2025
Nine Hails “A Great Day For Investigative Journalism” As Ben Roberts-Smith Loses Defamation Appeal
16/05/2025
Keep Left Updates Earned Media Impact Score Platform
16/05/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?