By Will Feuer

Shares of the special-purpose acquisition company that is trying to merge with former President Donald Trump's social-media company popped after Google approved the Truth Social app for listing in the Google Play Store.

Shares of the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., jumped 9% to $17.40 in after-hours trading Wednesday.

The Twitter Inc.-like Truth Social app has for months been available in Apple Inc.'s app store, but millions of smartphone users in the U.S. rely on Alphabet Inc.'s Google Android operating system. For Android users, the Google Play Store is the main way to download and access apps.

The app was seen available for pre-registration in Alphabet Inc.'s Google Play Store Wednesday evening. A Google spokesperson didn't immediately return the Journal's request for comment. Axios first reported on Google's approval of the app.

For months, the Truth Social app has been unavailable on the Google Play Store because Google had previously found several violations of standard policies in the app's application for listing. Google also previously said that having effective content-moderation systems is a condition of the Google Play Store terms of service.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2022 16:59 ET (20:59 GMT)

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