Donald Trump‘s social media platform may have seen a bump in new users since the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago property, but a new report suggests Truth Social owes more than a million dollars for web-hosting service and the dispute is headed for the courts.
The tech company has faced a string of problems since its launch, from slow take-up to an investigation by financial regulators.
It signed a deal with RightForge, which targets itself at conservative causes, for hosting services.
But three people familiar with the dispute claim that Truth Social has not made any of its monthly payments since March, wracking up $1.6 million in debts.
Now RightForge is preparing to take legal action, according to Fox Business.
‘Our founding vision is to make a second internet to support American ideas online,’ RightForge chief executive Martin Avila said in a statement, while declining to comment on the claims themselves.
‘RightForge believes in the mission of President Trump’s free speech platform and wish to continue supporting the president in his media endeavors.’
Donald Trump’s Truth Social was launched in February, but now owes more than $1 million to a company providing web hosting, according to a new report
Some three million people have now downloaded Truth Social, but the company behind it faces investigations by financial regulators
Truth Social did not return a request for comment.
The platform was launched in February to provide a mouthpiece for the former president, who was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Since then, he has used it to keep up a steady stream of commentary on midterm races, Joe Biden’s performance and the raid on his Florida home.
However, it has failed to draw a big audience – and its numbers are far short of mainstream platforms like Twitter, Facebook and even far-right site Gab, which sees tens of millions of monthly users.
Some industry experts point out that it is still not available to users of Android phones – a system with is more popular with Trump fans that iPhones.
But the structuring of the company could prove even more problematic.
The download rate jumped by 550 percent, according to Data AI
Authorities stand outside Mar-a-Lago the day after the FBI raid, which came in relation to a probe into whether Trump took from the White House when he left office
Truth Social is owned is part of Trump Media and Technology Group, a holding company which ultimately aims to move into streaming and other online services.
But plans for it to go public by merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, have been postponed indefinitely.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and a Justice Department grand jury have launched investigations, amid allegations that the two companies may have broken merger rules.
Both companies say they are cooperating with the probes.
Trump himself faces a string of legal difficulties.
Most recently, FBI agents recovered boxes of classified documents from his Florida home, as the Department of Justice probes the removal of hundreds of files from the White House when Trump left office.