Truth Social stole code and violated a licensing agreement for software, according to the Software Freedom Conservancy.
The nonprofit stated that former President Donald Trump's social networks have 30 days to comply with the agreement.
Truth Social could be sued if it doesn't follow the rules or force to rebuild the platform.
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Truth Social, an ex-President Donald Trump's social network, has 30 days to cease violating a free and open source software licensing agreement or its access will be permanently terminated.
The Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) announced Wednesday's launch of Truth Social. They allegedly violated a license agreement when they stole the code of Mastodon, a decentralized social network, and refused to abide by it, The Verge reported.
Platforms can reuse Mastodon's source code as Gab has. However, the Software Freedom Conservancy (a non-profit that enforces open-source and free software licenses) stated that they must adhere to the Affero General Public License or AGPLv3.
The APGLv3 requires that all users can obtain the full source code for any website that is built on this code. The Software Freedom Conservancy stated that AGPLv3's cure provisions work without exceptions, regardless of whether you are a real estate mogul or a reality TV star or even a former President.
According to The Verge, Truth Social didn't adhere to that provision and referred to its services as "proprietary" in violation of the license. Gizmodo reported that it doesn't mention that it took the code from another source.
The Verge also stated that it tried to get rid of references that would be obvious about the Mastodon ripoff. According to The Verge, a "sighting of the Mastodon logo" was reported as a bug. It also noted visual similarities and direct references in the site's HTML.
Metal dot Hex (@metaltxt), October 21, 2021
Software Freedom Conservancy insists that TMTG provides all users with access to the Truth Social source codes. If it fails, the rights and permissions to Mastodon software will be permanently terminated. The Verge stated that it could force the group into rebuilding the entire platform.
The media outlet stated that the Software Freedom Conservancy could be sued for violating the terms and conditions of the license.
Eugene Rochko (the founder of Mastodon) told Vice that Truth Social's platform is "absolutely" based upon his company's code. Talking Points Memo was informed by Rochko that he plans to seek legal advice regarding the situation.
Cheryl Teh, Insider's social media editor, noted that Trump's new platform is remarkably similar to Twitter.
Twitter users found a way to make mock accounts of Vice President Mike Pence and former president Barack Obama on Truth Social within minutes of its launch.
