On Sunday, the social media site launched by Jason Miller, one of former president Donald Trump’s senior advisers, was briefly hacked as it launched with more than half a million registered users.
Miller’s new site, GETTR, is reminiscent of Twitter, with users sharing posts and seeing trending topics. But Trump isn't banned here as he is on other platforms, for allegedly inciting misbehavior and pushing lies. Gettr has been described as “a non-bias social network for people all over the world,” according to Reuters.
Related
In a statement emailed to Reuters, Miller said the hack was detected and sealed in “a matter of minutes.” Even still, hackers took advantage of several user’s accounts.
"All the intruder was able to accomplish was to change a few user names," Miller said in the emailed statement to Reuters. Among the hacked accounts were those of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former senior White House advisor Steve Bannon, congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene and the pro-Trump media platform Newsmax.
Each of the accounts was hacked with the same message, which read: "@JubaBaghdad was here :) ^^ free palestine ^^," according to Insider. Later, the site was flooded with porn, photos of old men in their underwear, violent Sonic the Hedgehog memes, graphic hentai videos and Hillary Clinton's face photoshopped onto a woman's naked body.
Leading up to launch, Miller teased the Trump team’s plans to start a new social media platform for months after several sites blocked the former president, like Twitter and Facebook, after the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol. As a result, Trump is permanently banned from Twitter, he remains suspended by Facebook until at least 2023, and is banned by YouTube until the company determines him being on the platform is not a violence risk.
Related
Former Trump Adviser Steve Bannon described GETTR as the “Twitter killer” on Sunday in a post on the new site.
Miller spoke with Fox News earlier this week about his hopes to have Trump join GETTR, but at the moment, he is considering several options. He also said Trump s not funding the platform.
Despite the former president not being on the site many of taken the opportunity on Twitter to mock the new site for its similarity to Twitter.
Some have also pointed out that the platform may not be as peaceful as advertised. One person shared a screenshot of different hashtags used on the site using racial slurs and racist remarks.