Donald Trump launched a SPAC last week that heralds the beginning of his dive into the media industry through an org called the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG). 

He’s already on the verge of getting sued, according to The Verge. 

• The first product of TMTG is Truth Social: It’s a social media network like Twitter, which kicked Trump off the platform. Like many other websites, Truth Social borrowed the code used to build the site from a network known as Mastodon.

• Mastodon lets anyone use its code: It’s free and open. But anyone who uses it is supposed to follow certain conditions, including offering the code to others. Truth Social has not done that, according to The Verge, and has described its source code as proprietary.   

The Software Freedom Conservancy is taking action

The SFC enforces free and open software licenses and has ordered Truth Social to comply with Mastodon’s conditions within 30 days. The organization recently sued Vizio for a similar accusation.

The Verdict

This is unlikely to be the only legal conflict concerning Trump’s media company.