Well, that was fast. Just days after a Twitter clone from former Trump spokesperson Jason Miller launched, the new social network is already beset by problems.<\/p>\n
For one, hackers quickly leveraged Gettr\u2019s API to scrape the email addresses<\/a> of more than 85,000 of its users. Usernames, names and birthdays were also part of the scraped data set, which was surfaced by Alon Gal, co-founder of cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen threat actors are able to extract sensitive information due to neglectful API implementations, the consequence is equivalent to a data breach and should be handled accordingly by the firm [and] examined by regulators,\u201d Gal told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n Last week, TechCrunch\u2019s own Zack Whittaker predicted<\/a> that Gettr would soon see its data scraped through its API.<\/p>\n Threat actors were able to take advantage of bad API implemented on Trump’s recent social media platform, Gettr (@GettrOfficial<\/a>).<\/p>\n This allowed them to extract usernames, names, bios, bdays, but most importantly, the emails which were supposed to be private, of over 85,000 users. pic.twitter.com\/NsKyz9zHmQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alon Gal (Under the Breach) (@UnderTheBreach) July 6, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The scraped data is just one of Gettr\u2019s headaches. The app actually went live in the App Store and Google Play last month but left beta on July 4 following a launch post in Politico<\/a>. While the app is meant to appeal to the famously anti-China Trump sphere, Gettr apparently received early funding<\/a> from Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, an ally of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that Guo is at the center of a massive online disinformation network<\/a> that spreads anti-vaccine claims and QAnon conspiracies.<\/p>\n On July 2, the app\u2019s team apologized for signup delays citing a spike in downloads, but a bit of launch downtime is probably the least of its problems. Over the weekend, a number of official Gettr accounts, including Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Steve Bannon and Miller\u2019s own, were compromised<\/a>, raising more questions about the app\u2019s shoddy security practices.<\/p>\n Jason Miller’s new right-wing social media site “Gettr” was hacked this morning. pic.twitter.com\/cncddw9RZ9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) July 4, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n That incident aside, fake accounts overwhelm any attempt to find verified users on Gettr. That goes for the app\u2019s own recommendations too: a fake brand account for Steam was among the app\u2019s own recommendations during TechCrunch\u2019s testing.<\/p>\n Another red flag: The app\u2019s design is conspicuously identical to Twitter and appears to have used the company\u2019s API to copy some users\u2019 follower counts and profiles. Gettr encourages new users to use their Twitter handle in the sign up process, saying that it will allow tweets to be copied over in some cases (we signed up, but this didn\u2019t work for us). TechCrunch reached out to Twitter about Gettr\u2019s striking similarities and the use of its API but the company declined to comment.<\/p>\n Trumps Gettr website didn’t just copy old Twitter posts it hotlinks to Twitter images! pic.twitter.com\/848G6zTXuS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 zedster (@z3dster) July 1, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n On mobile, Gettr is basically an exact clone of Twitter \u2014 albeit one that\u2019s very rough around the edges. Some of Gettr\u2019s copy is stilted and strange, including the boast that it\u2019s a \u201cnon-bias\u201d social network that \u201ctried the best to provide best software quality to the users, allow anyone to express their opinion freely.\u201d<\/p>\n The company is positioning itself as an alternative for anyone who believes that mainstream social networks are hostile to far right ideas. Gettr\u2019s website beckons new users with familiar Trumpian messaging: \u201cDon\u2019t be Cancelled. Flex Your 1st Amendment. Celebrate Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHydroxycholoroquine works!\u201d Miller shared (Gettr\u2019d?) over the weekend, quoting the former president. \u201cAnd nobody is going to take down this post or suspend this account! #GETTR.\u201d So far on Gettr, content moderation is either lax or nonexistent. But as we\u2019ve seen with Parler<\/a> and other havens for sometimes violent conspiracies, that approach can only last so long.<\/p>\n In spite of being widely associated with Trump through Miller and former Trump campaign staffer Tim Murtaugh, the former president doesn\u2019t yet have a presence on the app. Some figures from Trump\u2019s orbit have established profiles on Gettr, including Steve Bannon (84.7K followers) and Mike Pompeo (1.3M followers), but a search for Trump only brings up unofficial accounts. Bloomberg reported<\/a> that Trump has no plans to join the app. (Given Gettr\u2019s preponderance of Sonic the Hedgehog porn<\/a>, we can\u2019t exactly blame him.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say whether the app\u2019s technical issues or Trump\u2019s absence will dampen interest in Gettr. According to estimates from Sensor Tower<\/a>, Gettr has racked up roughly 1.3 million installs globally since June, with Brazil trailing the U.S. as the app\u2019s second-biggest market.<\/p>\n The online pro-Trump ecosystem remains scattered in mid-2021. With Trump banned and the roiling conspiracy network around QAnon no longer welcome on Facebook and Twitter, Gettr positioned itself as a refuge for mainstream social media\u2019s many outcasts. But given Gettr\u2019s mounting early woes, the sketchy Twitter clone\u2019s moment in the sun might already be coming to an end.<\/p>\n\n
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