Freedom Phone

[[File:Freedom Phone Logo.png|165px|thumb|[[Freedom fries|Formerly known as French Phone.]]]]{{scam}}{{cquote|If you're looking for a phone that protects your privacy, look elsewhere. The Freedom Phone raises a lot of red flags. Initially the phone was supposed to run software called Freedom OS, which Finman claimed protects your privacy. It had an "uncensorable" app store called the PatriApp store that claims to feature apps banned by Big Tech. In the announcement video, Finman shows off a phone that is powered off and looks similar to a budget Chinese phone that sells for one-quarter of the Freedom Phone's $500 price.|||An honest review of the Freedom Phone<ref name=cnet>Patrick Holland, [https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/freedom-phone-the-ultimate-political-tool-and-why-you-should-avoid-it/ Freedom Phone: The 'ultimate political tool' and why you should avoid it]. CNET, 8 September 2021.</ref>}}

The '''Freedom Phone''' is a [[scam]] phone that claims to be “anti-big tech [[censorship]]”. It was created for a [[conservative]] [[United States|American]] audience in response to [[Donald Trump]] being banned from [[Twitter]] and other [[social media platforms]].<ref name=fp>[https://www.freedomphone.com/ Freedom Phone]</ref> Unsurprisingly, most of what it claims to be are [[bullshit|lies]].

==Background==
On January 8, 2021, Donald Trump was banned from Twitter as a response to the [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot]]. Most mainstream social media platforms had been banning content promoting misinformation about [[COVID-19]] and the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]], and most app stores had banned [[alt-right]] apps such as [[Gab]]. This spawned a huge [[persecution complex]] among conservatives of “[[liberal media|liberal]]” big tech censorship. The Freedom Phone was created by [[Bitcoin]] nut Erik Finman, who claims to have been a teenage Bitcoin millionaire.<ref> [https://www.investopedia.com/news/who-erik-finman-bitcoin-millionaire-teenager/ Who is Erik Finman?] </ref>

==What it claims to be==
Freedom Phone’s “PatriApp” app store claims to be completely uncensored and to contain apps “censored” by Apple and Google’s app stores such as [[Parler]] and [[Gab]].<ref name=fp /> It is claimed to be a completely original design.<ref name=fp /> Its ClearOS operating system is claimed to be developed by the phone’s creators specifically for “freedom, security, and privacy”. It claims to be pre-installed with “banned” and “unbanned” apps such as [[Newsmax]], [[Parler]], {{wpl|Rumble (website)|Rumble|,}} DuckDuckGo,<ref group=note>Likely included due to it claiming not to track its users.</ref> and [[OANN]].<ref name=fp /> Its claim about its tracking blocker, ClearGM, [[Stopped clock|is likely true]]; ClearGM is privacy software, and Freedom Phone doesn’t falsely claim to have made it.<ref>[https://www.cleargm.com/ ClearGM]</ref>

As of March 2023, the company's official website states that "[t]he Freedom Phones will come pre-installed with both [[Twitter]] and [[Elon Musk#Tesla Motors|Tesla]] apps out of respect for what [[Elon Musk|Mr. Musk]] has done for [[Freedom of speech|freespeach]] [sic] for the world!"

==What it actually is==
[[Irony|Ironically]], the phone is manufactured by {{wpl|Umidigi||,}} a [[China|Chinese]] company.<ref name=ars>[https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/07/the-maga-targeted-freedom-phone-has-a-breathtaking-amount-of-red-flags/ The MAGA-targeted “Freedom Phone” has a breathtaking amount of red flags]</ref> The phone is a slightly modified {{wpl|Umidigi A9|Umidigi A9 Pro|.}}<ref name=gsmarena>[https://www.gsmarena.com/umidigi_a9_pro-13109.php Umidigi A9 Pro]</ref><ref name=ars /> The A9 pro sells for under $200,<ref>[https://umidigi.com/page-umidigi_a9pro_specification.html Umidigi A9 Pro]</ref> compared to the Freedom Phone’s $500.<ref name=fp /> Both those phones use chips designed by {{wpl|MediaTek||,}} a [[Taiwan]]ese company whose products are known for containing security issues<ref>[https://9to5google.com/2020/03/03/mediatek-security-exploit-android/ Severe MediaTek exploit affects millions of Android devices, some may never be patched]</ref> and {{wpl|GNU General Public License|General Public License}} violations.<ref>[https://www.xda-developers.com/have-you-paid-your-linux-kernel-source-license-fee/ Have You Paid Your Linux Kernel Source License Fee?]</ref> The PatriApp app store is an illegal fork{{efn|The GPL license of the Aurora Store requires the source code of forks to be published under the same license if it's released to the public, good luck finding PatriApp's source code.}} of the Aurora Store,<ref>[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aurora.store/ Aurora Store]. f-droid.org.</ref><ref name=ars /> which in turn is a Google Play client. This means the phone does not support “censored” apps, and the “banned” apps said to be included are only website links. The ClearOS operating system was created by a company in [[New Zealand]] in 2001 and does not claim to be developed for “freedom, security, and privacy”.<ref>[https://www.clearos.com/ ClearOS]</ref> The Freedom Phone doesn't even run ClearOS; instead, it runs a fork of Android.<ref name=cnet /> Essentially, the Freedom Phone is a total clusterfuck [[Not even wrong|that doesn’t even meet its stupid standards]].

==See also==
*[[Alt-right glossary#Alt-tech|Alt-tech]]
*[[Patriot Mobile]], a similarly themed wireless provider

==External links==
* [https://www.freedomphone.com/ Freedom Phone]

==Notes==

{{reflist|group=note}} 

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Scams]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:United States politics]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]

Categories: Scams, Technology, Alt-right, United States politics, Misnomers