Trump launches new 'communications' platform

Donald Trump has launched a new "communications" website, which says it will publish content "straight from the desk" of the former US president.

Mr Trump was banned by Twitter and suspended by Facebook and YouTube after the Capitol riots in January.

The former president has since been releasing statements by press release - which the new website will now host.

Users will be able to like posts - and also share them on Twitter and Facebook accounts.

"It is a blog," Kara Swisher, technology columnist for the New York Times told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I was like '2002 is calling and it wants its blog back...'

"I don't know what the overall plan is because he does have some very sharp digital advisers. It is just the beginning of his attempts to try to re-establish a louder ability to participate in digital media."

Mr Trump's senior adviser, Jason Miller, had previously said a new social media platform was to be launched. "This new platform is going to be big," he said in March.

But Mr Miller tweeted on Tuesday that the new website was not the social media platform he had previously hyped.

"We'll have additional information coming on that front in the very near future," he said.

The website is reportedly built by Campaign Nucleus, a digital services company created by Mr Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale.

Several posts on the site repeat debunked claims that last year's presidential election was rigged.

The new site arrived just before a decision from Facebook's Oversight Board on whether Facebook was right to ban Mr Trump.

The panel upheld the ban - but said Facebook must review whether it should be permanent, and apply consistent rules to all users. That could leave the door open to Mr Trump's return to Facebook and Instagram in the future.

The former president used his new site to label Facebook - along with Twitter and Google - "a total disgrace".

"Free speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the radical left lunatics are afraid of the truth," he said.

"The people of our country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our electoral process."

YouTube has said they will reactivate Mr Trump's account when the threat of "real-world violence" reduces.

Twitter, where Mr Trump had 88 million followers, has banned him permanently.

A Twitter spokesperson told the BBC: "Generally, sharing content from the website referenced is permitted as long as the material does not otherwise violate the Twitter Rules".

James Clayton is the BBC's North America technology reporter based in San Francisco. Follow him on Twitter @jamesclayton5.