- Site Name: Gettr
- Date Created: Officially launched on July 4, 2021
- Main Purpose: To be a free speech alternative to the mainstream social media platforms that restrict content
- Number of Users: More than 1.5 million [1]
- Typical Users: Extremists, right-wingers and pro-Trump activists
A beta version of Gettr was first added to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in mid-June, and launched on July 1, 2021. It was then officially launched a few days later, on a symbolic day to many Americans, July 4, 2021.
According to the Apple App Store listing, Gettr was developed by Chainnov Inc. It was created by former Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller, who now serves as the company’s CEO. Tim Murtaugh, the former Trump 2020 communications director acts as media affairs consultant for the company.
According to the two, the platform was founded on the principles of free speech, independent thought – and rejection of political censorship and “cancel culture”. Gettr’s goal is to create “a marketplace of ideas in order to share freedom and democracy around the world”. They said they provide “free speech supporters” a place to turn to after leaving Silicon Valley social networks. Among these you can find Twitter and Facebook, who earlier this year suspended former US President Trump from their platforms following the riots on Capitol Hill.
While Gettr is considered by many as a pro-Trump site, former US President Donald Trump declined to join the platform, insisting he will launch his own social platform at a later stage.
On the very same day it was launched, Gettr was hacked, revealing users’ personal details, such as usernames, names, birthdays and email addresses. That, however, didn’t prevent a million users from signing up within a few days since it went live.
Like other social media platforms, Gettr users can post text, images, emojis and links which are viewed on their feed. The platform can also be accessed via the web. Gettr is increasingly becoming popular, with more right-wing activists joining it everyday. Many see the platform as a safe haven to air their views, some of which are of extreme nature, without fear of restrictions.
Here is one of the anti-mask policy posts that was published on Gettr in recent days:
Almost all of Gettr’s content is right-wing in nature. It is used by mainstream conservatives like Sean Hannity, Kevin McCarthy, and Mike Pompeo. At the same time, it also hosts far right wing groups like the Proud Boys and others.
Here are two images from Gettr, one of a post about a declaration by General Mark Milley and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, followed by a different post by an unhappy actor:
Among the topics that are trending on Gettr, since the first day of its beta launch, include pro-Trump slogans but also racist and anti-Semitic slurs, and COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
The images below includes an anti-communist post and a post by a right-wing pro-Trump supporter responding to it:
A few example of posts by anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists:
Over the past weeks we have been witnessing Jihadist groups joining the platform and posting messages in Arabic, in response to anti-Muslim groups. The common hashtags we saw in use include: الدولة الإسلامية, الدولة_الإسلامية, الدولة_الاسلامية, الدولة_الاسلامية الدولة_الإسلامية, isis, islamicstate, islamic_state.
While some jihadists users kept posting these types of messages for a few days, Gettr slowly blocked their accounts and deleted their posts.
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