What is Trump Media's Truth API and why is it controversial?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed receipt of the letter, but has declined to comment on whether it will investigate.The potential for insider trading to occur has also been raised. The practice, which is illegal, involves people making market trades or bets based on information that is not available to the general public.A spokesperson for TMTG said in response to the letter sent to the SEC that Senate Democrats "continue to mischaracterise Truth API either out of ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and nonpublic information - or, quite possibly, both".TMTG has also said "the Senators must have invented a new theory of 'insider trading' based on publicly available information".Whether or not information being provided by the service is public or non-public appears to be the key test.Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer to President George W Bush, told the BBC he believes it could be classed as insider trading to sell material and official US government information, prior to it being public knowledge, on the platform."If I were commissioner of the SEC, I would threaten to resign unless they put a stop to this plan or promise that no posts... that have to do with US government business [will be included]," he says.Saluzzi, though, points out that many other data providers, news organisations and stock exchanges currently operate similar services, providing a "precedent" for TMTG.