Google notifies Truth Social of several violations of standard policies, pointing out it lacked the required moderation of user-generated content as users have been found inciting violence.
Truth Social restored Trump's presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook and YouTube.
(Dado Ruvic / Reuters)
Former US president Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social has not yet been approved for distribution on Alphabet Inc's Google Play Store due to insufficient content moderation.
The delay, confirmed by a Google spokesperson on Tuesday, marks a setback for the app, which launched in the Apple App Store on February 21. Android phones comprise about 40 percent of the US smartphone market. Without the Google and Apple stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth Social.
"On August 19, we notified Truth Social of several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play," Google said in a statement.
Google said it has expressed concerns to Truth Social about violations of its Play Store policies prohibiting content like physical threats and incitement to violence.
BREAKING: Google has removed Truth Social from the Google Play store, due to their lack of moderation of violent content, including users openly planning to overthrow the US Government.
— LeGate☮️ | pillow-fight.com CMO (@williamlegate) August 30, 2022
'Censorship-free experience'
Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in a press release said that it has "continuously worked in good faith with Google to ensure that the Truth Social Android App complies with Google’s policies without compromising our promise to be a haven for free speech."
It added: "Moreover, some of our competitors’ apps are allowed in the Google Play Store despite rampantly violating Google’s prohibition on sexual content and other policies, whereas Truth Social has zero tolerance for sexually explicit content."
News of the Android delay was first reported by Axios.
Truth Social restored Trump's presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter Inc, Facebook and Alphabet Inc's YouTube following the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riots, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.
TMTG has pledged to deliver an "engaging and censorship-free experience" on Truth Social, appealing to a base that feels its views around such hot-button topics such as the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream tech platforms.
READ MORE: Trump's 'Truth' network hits a roadblock as its funding woes increase
Source: Reuters
Wanindu Hasaranga has been denied a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the Hundred by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and has been forced to pull out of his £100,000 contract with Manchester Originals as a result.
Ashley de Silva, SLC's chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo that the board turned down his request because they want him to be physically and mentally fresh ahead of the Asia Cup, which starts on August 27, and the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
Originals had previously expected Hasaranga to miss the Hundred due to a clash with the Lanka Premier League, before that tournament was postponed. They will have the option to retain him for the 2023 season if they can agree a contract with him.
ESPNcricinfo understands Tristan Stubbs, the middle-order batter who hit 72 off 28 balls in the first T20l against England last week, has been signed as a replacement and will link up with Originals after South Africa's second T20I against Ireland on Friday.
Originals play their first game of the 2022 season against Northern Superchargers at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday night and are likely to fill their three overseas slots with Andre Russell, Ashton Turner and Sean Abbott. Turner is expected to drop out of the XI when Stubbs is available and then return to the side when Russell leaves for the CPL, which starts on September 1.
Elsewhere, Welsh Fire confirmed on Thursday that Naseem Shah has withdrawn from the tournament after his selection for Pakistan's tour to the Netherlands and the Asia Cup. Naseem did not play in Fire's defeat to Southern Brave on the opening night and will not link up with the squad. They are yet to announce a replacement.
Birmingham Phoenix have brought in Brett D'Oliveira, the Worcestershire allrounder, and Timm van der Gugten, the Glamorgan seamer, as injury replacements for Tom Abell and Olly Stone respectively. "We're delighted to add two experienced players to the Phoenix men's squad," Craig Flindall, their general manager, said.
David Warner is unlikely to play in the UAE's inaugural International League T20 (ILT20) in January, and looks set to remain in Australia with negotiations ongoing to have him play in the Big Bash League (BBL) for the first time since 2013.
Warner, who is contracted to Cricket Australia but doesn't hold a BBL deal, is set to be available to play franchise cricket in January 2023 after the three-match ODI series with South Africa was cancelled and there was significant interest for him to play in the UAE, particularly given his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals own the Dubai Capitals franchise as well.
But ESPNcricinfo understands that a potential deal to sign Warner to the ILT20 is almost certainly off and Warner's manager James Erskine confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald that they were in negotiations with CA and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) to have Warner play in the BBL.
CA has found itself in a bind over the prospect of Australian contracted players, who are not contracted in the BBL, potentially being offered $US450,000 to play in the UAE.
The last Test of a three-match series between Australia and South Africa concludes in Sydney on January 8, 2023, with Australia's next international commitment not until mid-February when they are due to tour India for a four-Test series. This means that Warner, Steven Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, among other Test players, will be available to play franchise cricket in that period. CA had hoped that all would play in the BBL given it runs from December 13 to February 4, while the ILT20 is scheduled to run from January 6 to February 12.
The CA-contracted players are not obligated to play in the BBL under their contracts and Warner and Starc haven't played since 2013 and 2014 respectively, while Smith, Cummins and Hazlewood also don't have BBL contracts. Starc has already confirmed he won't make himself available in order to rest while Warner is the only one publicly linked to the UAE so far, although Cummins and Hazlewood have been sought-after recruits in the IPL in recent years and would attract a lot of interest.
Australia's high-profile T20 players like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa, Aaron Finch and Tim David all have BBL deals. The big restriction for the players' potential earnings in the BBL is the $AUD1.9 million ($US1.32 million approx.) salary cap with top contracts in the BBL for Australian players maxing out at roughly $AUD190,000 ($US132,000 approx.). There are significant marketing bonuses available on top of that but the total a player can earn in the BBL is still dwarfed by the top contract in the UAE for a shorter tournament.
There has been disquiet among the players about the BBL's decision to offer $AUD340,000 ($US236,000 approx.) to top overseas players who have been nominated in the draft. A significant portion of that contract will be topped up by CA outside of the club's salary cap. There is further disillusionment at the fact that a number of those overseas players are likely to only be available for the December portion of the BBL and will then head to the UAE to play the full ILT20 in January for nearly twice the money.
It is written into CA, Australian domestic and BBL contracts that players need "written approval" in the form of no-objection certificates (NOCs) to play in overseas leagues but it is understood that a restraint of trade argument could be mounted under Australian common law should a player wish to go down that route. That contract clause has warded off players from making any decisive moves to the UAE this year but the ILT20 has given Warner the ability to bargain with CA and command a similar sized and structured BBL contract to what the "platinum" overseas players will get this season.
There has been speculation that Chris Lynn would also require an NOC despite not being contracted to a BBL club due to an ICC player-release regulation stipulating players still need NOCs for two years after holding a contract in Australia. But ESPNcricinfo understands that it would be unenforceable as an unreasonable restraint of trade under Australian law. Shane Watson, the current ACA president, previously played in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2019-20 without an NOC having retired from the BBL earlier in the year. It is unlikely, however, that Lynn could play in both the BBL and the ILT20.
Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja forecasted these issues last month highlighting the potential earnings gap between the BBL and the South Africa and UAE T20 leagues for both Australian and overseas players.
All of this is taking place as CA and the ACA prepare to start negotiations in the coming months on a new long-term MoU for the players to come into effect in 2023. One of CA's major broadcast partners Channel Seven has also filed a Federal Court action against CA to terminate their current deal that expires in 2024 over perceived quality breaches in regards to the BBL specifically.
Already stuck in a trade war, Beijing and Washington increasingly risk open conflict over Taiwan, with little sign of resolution on either front.
While this was Biden's fifth talk with Xi since becoming president a year and a half ago, it's getting hard to mask deepening mistrust between the two countries.
(Reuters)
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have held two hours of "candid and in-depth" talks, in which the Chinese president warned his US counterpart not to "play with fire" amid mounting tensions over Taiwan, state media reported.
The virtual summit lasting over two hours took place on Thursday as Beijing and Washington increasingly risk open conflict over the self-ruling island, which China considers part of its territory.
"Those who play with fire will eventually get burned," Xinhua quoted Xi as telling Biden on Thursday. "I hope the US side fully understand that," he was quoted as saying.
"The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan issue is consistent,'" Xi was quoted as saying.
"It is the firm will of the over 1.4 billion Chinese people to firmly safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
While this was Biden's fifth talk with Xi since becoming president a year and a half ago, it's getting hard to mask deepening mistrust between the two countries.
"Tensions over China's aggressive, coercive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific" will be high on the agenda, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
The latest flashpoint is a possible trip by Biden ally and speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to the island, which Beijing claims is part of China but has its own distinct, democratic government.
Although US officials frequently visit Taiwan, separated by a narrow strip of water from the Chinese mainland, Beijing considers a Pelosi trip as a major provocation.
She's second in line to the US presidency and given her position may travel with military transport.
Washington will "bear the consequences" if the trip, which Pelosi has yet to confirm, goes ahead, China warned on Wednesday.
And the dispute around Pelosi is the tip of an iceberg, with US officials fearing that Xi is mulling use of force to impose control over Taiwan.
Once considered unlikely, an invasion, or lesser form of military action, is increasingly seen by China watchers as possible - perhaps even timed to boost Xi's prestige when he moves later this year into a third term.
Biden's contradictory comments on whether the United States would defend Taiwan - he said in May that it would, before the White House insisted there was no change in the hands-off "strategic ambiguity" policy - have not helped the tension.
As Gosling tells it, some time ago, director Gerwig offered Gosling the part of Ken. The script was the "best ... [he'd] ever read," he told host Jimmy Fallon, but he wanted to take a moment and consider the decision in the fresh air.
When he walked into his backyard, he received a sign from the universe: An otherwise-pristine, shirtless Ken doll, facedown in the mud next to a "squished lemon," Gosling said.
The future Ken snapped a photo of the affecting scene, perhaps a sign from the universe, and texted it to Gerwig.
"I said, 'I shall be your Ken. For his story must be told,'" Gosling told Fallon.
And though the film recently wrapped, Gosling is continuing to name-drop his beloved Mattel character wherever he goes, even when he's promoting his other projects, and he defends Ken fiercely against detractors.
"I was surprised how some people were kind of clutching their pearls about my Ken, as if they ever thought about Ken for a second before this!" Gosling said, pointing a faux-angry, accusatory finger. "They never played with Ken!"
Then the conversation turned bleak and existential: "Nobody plays with Ken, man," Gosling lamented. "He's an accessory, and not even one of the cool ones."
This isn't the first time Gosling has considered the failings of Ken's seemingly plush life. In an interview earlier this month with Entertainment Tonight, Gosling said that life in plastic is much harder than the life of the fictional mercenary he plays in Netflix's "The Gray Man."
"Ken's got no money, he's got no job, he's got no car, he's got no house," Gosling said in the earlier interview. "He's going through some stuff."
But the "Barbie" film will be much more fun than Gosling's devastating descriptions of Ken make it out to be, he assured Fallon this week.
"Those are not plot details; those are just objective facts about Ken," he said. "That's the Ken life."
Until "Barbie" hits theaters in July 2023, we can just hope the universe will continue to guide Gosling to wedge Ken into all his interviews for the foreseeable future.
