City of San Francisco files suit against Truth Social over wealthy subscribers' early access to posts
The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against Truth Social, President Donald Trump's social media company, over the platform's pricey subscriber-only program that provides early access to the president's posts.
The lawsuit filed on Monday alleges that Trump Media & Technology Group violates California's Unfair Competition Law by giving wealthy investors access to Truth Social content while leaving out everyday investors. In July, Truth Social rolled out an exclusive feed priced between $60,000 to $100,000 per month of posts from Trump and other top accounts, which investors use to inform stock trades.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement that the paid access to government information creates a marketplace for insider trading.
"This scheme turns the public trust into private profit," Chiu said. "It is corruption, plain and simple. Californians should not be forced to compete against wealthy trading firms buying early access to market‑moving information. We are acting decisively to stop this corruption and protect Californians, who work hard, save, and invest responsibly."
Truth Social said its Truth API data feed is designed for firms "most impacted by the cost of a delay in information," including high-frequency trading firms that buy and sell stocks in fractions of seconds. Mr. Trump has 12.9 million followers on Truth Social, the platform's highest-profile user, and often makes major policy announcements on the platform that could potentially impact financial markets.
"The people of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information," a Truth Social spokesperson said in an email to CBS News Bay Area.
CBS News Bay Area also contacted the White House and Justice Department for comment on the lawsuit. The White House referred inquiries to Trump Media & Technology Group.
San Francisco's lawsuit was filed the same day as dozens of former federal prosecutors and agents filed an amicus brief in another suit alleging Trump Media & Technology Group media company is likely committing federal crimes by selling faster access to Truth Social posts. The lawsuit, brought last month by the Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, names Trump, the White House, and aides Natalie Harp and Dan Scavino, and alleges that selling early access to Truth Social posts is "profoundly corrupt" and violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
"The Truth Social scheme poses an obvious risk of corruption, defying the compelling anti-corruption interests embodied in the Constitution, ethics codes, and federal laws," the court brief reads.
