Gettr Builds International User Base, Including President of Brazil

CEO Jason Miller says the Trump-aligned platform is growing rapidly abroad

Santi Ruiz • September 2, 2021 3:40 pm

The right-leaning social media app Gettr is attracting international users, including Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Gettr CEO Jason Miller told the Washington Free Beacon that 15 percent of the platform’s users are Brazilian, a number that includes Bolsonaro and two of his sons. Miller, a former spokesman for Donald Trump, touted the high number of new users from Japan and Western Europe, noting that Japan is outpacing Brazil in growth. Half of Gettr users are American, still the largest share from any country. Miller and Donald Trump Jr. are traveling to Brazil this week for a CPAC conference.

Gettr, a Twitter-style platform popular with conservatives, has positioned itself as a more free speech-friendly alternative to mainstream social media platforms. According to Miller, the app is growing because “people are really upset with big tech. There’s these big tech oligarchs and overlords who are playing judge, jury, and executioner with free speech rights.” Miller suggested that the app’s success is part of a broader “pushback against global elites.”

Trump has not yet joined the platform, but Miller said he spoke Wednesday night with the former president. Miller said he is “feeling bullish” about Trump’s joining, but “there’s no white smoke from the Vatican yet.” Yahoo reported on Tuesday that Trump may want equity in the platform as part of any deal for him to join.

Gettr has gained over two million users since it launched in July. About half of Gettr users are based outside the United States, and the platform hosts a high volume of Mandarin-speaking users. Miller said that about 4 percent of users are based in China but that 10-15 percent of posts were in Mandarin. “There’s a very passionate, vibrant, pro-freedom, pro-democracy movement of folks who came from China and now live all over the world,” Miller said.

The platform has announced it will never ban users for their political speech, but it takes a harder line on obscenity than other platforms. Miller says Gettr has had to change its content moderation strategy. “In the first week or two, you couldn’t say the F-word. And then we realized that’s too tight a screen. We want to keep things that are illegal or threatening off the platform. So we’ve relaxed it a bit to make sure we’re not being overly intrusive.”

Miller said he also draws the line on political speech from “groups that exist to bring hate and terror to other people” and said he will not allow Taliban members on the site. “Twitter has coddled terrorist groups, in my opinion,” Miller said, pointing to Twitter’s recent announcement that it will not ban Taliban members as long as they do not post explicit support for terror.