Alphabet Inc’s Google has approved former US president Donald Trump’s social media app Truth Social for distribution in the Google Play Store.

Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates Truth Social, was expected to make the app available in the Google Play Store shortly, Google said on Wednesday (US time)

Truth Social, which launched in the US in the Apple App Store in February, had not previously been available in the Google Play Store due to insufficient content moderation, according to a Google spokesman in August.

Without the Google and Apple stores, there was no easy way for most smartphone users to download Truth Social. Android phones comprise about 40 per cent of the US smartphone market.

Truth Social restored Mr Trump’s presence on social media more than a year after he was banned from Twitter, 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.

News of Google’s approval was first reported by Axios.