In the early days of Freedom Phone, it seemed like Finman, the self-proclaimed “youngest bitcoin millionaire,” had the technology and marketing skills to pull off the development of an entirely new smartphone. Finman has even sued to stop associating his face and name with Freedom Phone in the future. In a bitter, previously unreported legal battle that began in April 2022, the men behind Freedom Phone’s backers accused each other of squandering their windfall profits - in one case on a $10,000 video game shopping spree. Two years later, however, Freedom Phone’s business collapsed due to customer complaints. “I’m holding a friggin’ phone that isn’t controlled by Apple or Google,” conservative figure Candace Owens said in an Instagram video. Even after The Daily Beast and other media outlets revealed that the Freedom Phone was just a cheap Chinese-made phone sold at a hefty premium, it was a hit, quickly selling for around $4 million, according to court records. Dubbed the “Freedom Phone,” the $500 device was the creation of bitcoin mogul Erik Finman, who promised customers a phone loaded with conservative apps and free from Silicon Valley’s liberal influence.Ĭonservative influencers encouraged their fans to buy the phone, earning a sizable cut of each sale for themselves. However, if the phone ends up having its own operating system, there is still the risk of it not being secure enough to keep the personal information of its users away from hackers.Įven iOS and Android, the operating systems of Apple and Google that are known for their tight security, are filled with vulnerabilities that need constant updating.In the summer of 2021, conservatives angered by Big Tech’s censorship saw a new smartphone as their savior. The OS of the Freedom Phone may just be a custom version of Google's Android. It can even download Telegram, Brave, and Signal. Some people doubt that the Freedom Phone has its own operating system, especially if it can run established apps like Rumble and Parler. No Specs and DetailsĪnother thing that the public had noticed is that the Freedom Phone does not have an y information regarding its specs, which is a red flag.įinman is yet to release the technical specs for the product.Īccording to CNET, an uncensorable app store can open the doors for hackers and other developers to release malware and data-collecting programs to users. He posted on his Twitter account that they designed the phone between his design lab and their partner in Hong Kong to make a custom phone.įinman added that it was impossible to build a phone in the United States, that even companies like Motorola, who had tried to build a custom phone in the past, had failed. In response to the backlash, Finman said that he had no choice but to source the phone from China. The public was quick to point out the irony behind the Freedom Phone since it is supposed to be free of influence and censorship from major smartphone manufacturers.Ĭhina has gained a notorious reputation for sponsoring computer hacks and suppressing online posts in order to spy on the US government and US private sectors.ĭue to security concerns, the US had banned certain Chinese companies, such as ZTE and Huawei, from selling their products and services in the country. It can be bought on the Chinese e-commerce site AliExpress for $119.įinman admitted to The Daily Beast that the Freedom Phone was sourced from Umidigi. The smartphone is called the Umidigi A9 pro. However, The Daily Beast reported that the Freedom Phone looks exactly the same as that of a budget smartphone device from Umidigi, a smartphone manufacturer from China. The smartphone gained support from the supporters of former President Donald Trump. The Freedom Phone also has Parler and Rumble preinstalled, two of the most famous conservative-friendly apps.įinman claimed that the smartphone does not have any keyboard tracking, app tracking, and location tracking because he believes in the security and privacy of the users.Īlso Read: MeWe Becomes Parler Alternative as Apple, Google and Amazon Ban Free Speech Platform The Freedom Phone is claimed to be everything that people "could dream of." It includes an uncensorable app store, and it is equipped with its own anti-surveillance operating system called FreedomOS.
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