The "free speech" platform where the Pittsburgh shooter felt comfortable enough to share his intention to murder Jews came back online Sunday night. And it's already filled back up with anti-semitism.
"Hew Jews! We're back on Gab now. Thanks for the press. Pretty soon the average citizen is going to figure out that we wouldn't be having these problems in your absence, and we genuinely appreciate your help in stepping up the timeline on that," he commented.
Gab is back online
Gab describes itself as "a social network that champions free speech, individual liberty and free flow of information online." Because of that, it's often used as a place to post hate speech and it has become a popular platform among far-right extremists.
Social media site Gab, popular among far-right extremists, has found a new domain host and expects to be back online by Sunday, it tweeted on Saturday. Gab's earlier domain host, GoDaddy, dropped the site following the news that the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers had been an avid poster on the site.
Gab launched in 2016 and bills itself as a "social network for creators who believe in free speech, individual liberty, and the free flow of information online." But the site has run into controversy over the years for allowing extremist content with very little oversight.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Gab pushed back against claims about hosting Bowers' radical views. "Social media often brings out the best and the worst of humanity," Gab said in a statement. "From live streamed murders on Facebook, to threats of violence by bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. that went unaddressed by Twitter, and more. Criminals and criminal behavior exist on every social media platform."
Gab is an American alt-tech microblogging and social networking service known for its far-right userbase.[2][3][4][5] Widely described as a haven for neo-Nazis, racists, white supremacists, white nationalists, antisemites, the alt-right, supporters of Donald Trump, conservatives, right-libertarians, and believers in conspiracy theories such as QAnon,[6][7] Gab has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social media platforms and users seeking alternatives to mainstream social media platforms.[8][9][10] Founded in 2016 and launched publicly in May 2017,[3][11] Gab claims to promote free speech, individual liberty, the "free flow of information online", and Christian values.[12][13][14][15] Researchers and journalists have characterized these assertions as an obfuscation of its extremist ecosystem.[13][16] Antisemitism is prominent in the site's content and the company itself has engaged in antisemitic commentary. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has promoted the white genocide conspiracy theory.[13][14][15][17] Gab is based in Pennsylvania.[18]
Gab was founded in 2016 by chief executive officer (CEO) Andrew Torba and chief technology officer (CTO) Ekrem Büyükkaya, who had previously worked together at advertising technology company Automate Ads (formerly Kuhcoon).[1][3] Torba started working on the site in May 2016 and on August 15, 2016, Gab launched in private beta, billing itself as a "free speech" alternative to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook.[36][37][11] Torba has cited "the entirely left-leaning Big Social monopoly", "social justice bullying", "the rise of online censorship during the 2016 election." and an alleged bias against conservative articles by Facebook as his reasons for creating Gab.[38][36][39][18] Gab AI, Inc. was incorporated on September 9, 2016.[40] Utsav Sanduja later joined Gab as chief operating officer (COO).[14]
According to Gab's filings with the SEC, around 635,000 users were registered on Gab by September 10, 2018.[56] On September 12, 2018, Gab purchased the Gab.com domain name from Sedo for $220,000 on Flippa, an online business marketplace; it had previously been using the domain Gab.ai.[57][58]
Gab had defended itself from criticism as a result of the shooting, saying that they: "refuse to be defined by the media's narratives about Gab and our community. Gab's mission is very simple: to defend free expression and individual liberty online for all people. Social media often brings out the best and the worst of humanity".[63] Torba called the shooting "a clear act of terror", adding that he "fundamentally believed in freedom of expression", but did not tolerate threats of violence. Torba also said that "I do think that more speech is always going to be the answer to combat bad speech or hate speech".[74]
Gab returned online on November 4, 2018, after Epik agreed to register the domain.[24][25] Rob Monster, the CEO of Epik, had defended Gab's neo-Nazi users and also baselessly claimed that neo-Nazis on Gab are "liberal trolls" looking to "give enemies of freedom an excuse". On Gab, Christopher Cantwell replied to Monster's claims, stating: "We're not liberals, nor are the people trying to get us censored. The people trying to censor Gab are (((communists))), and the Nazis are the only ones willing to take them on ... Eventually, everyone will have to pick a side".[79] Monster also said of Gab that "I do believe the guys that are on the site are vigilant".[25]
After Gab returned online, the site was immediately flooded with antisemitic posts and comments, including one comment in response to a post from Torba welcoming back users of Gab and asking users to be nice to each other that said "Fuck that, name the Jews who are trying to shut us down". The comment was later deleted.[78] In response to these posts and comments, Torba claimed that "a lot of people are creating brand new accounts and breaking our guidelines on purpose tonight". Torba also called on users of Gab to help police the site for posts that break Gab's user guidelines, including threats of violence.[78]
In December 2020, Engineering & Technology reported that Gab and other similar platforms could face "huge fines" for spreading misinformation under a new online safety bill in the United Kingdom that was planning on being introduced in 2021.[96]
On August 27, the U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the storming of the Capitol demanded records from Gab (alongside 14 other social media companies) going back to the spring of 2020.[111] On September 1, Torba responded by refusing to cooperate with the investigation, saying that Gab does not track misinformation or disinformation, has no retention policies, keeps no records of internal discussion about concerns of an insurrection, and has no way of knowing that an account is run by a foreign government. Torba and Gab also refused to hand over private user communications to the select committee (communications that Gab has already shared with law enforcement), arguing that the U.S. Congress would need a subpoena or warrant under the Stored Communications Act (SCA).[112][113] Also in September 2021, Whitney Kimball of Gizmodo noted that Gab "might not even agree that an insurrection happened at all". noting an email from the company titled "New Video From Jan 6th Destroys 'Insurrection' Hoax".[112]
Also in late September, Torba announced that the Gab website's online infrastructure would be upgraded to "preserve a parallel Christian society on the internet for generations to come".[115] On September 22, Torba wrote that "Our vision for Gabvertising and the parallel economy we are building is to empower families and freedom-loving business owners to free themselves from the slavery of Woke Capital" and that "The natural evolution of free speech is free markets, and that's what is forming right now on Gab. An actual free market, not one rigged by a handful globalist big bankers and hedge funds".[116][117]
In early December, Torba claimed that Gab's back-end system was under a cyberattack by "porn bots". Torba called it "the most sophisticated attack we have seen in five years", adding that "the timing of it is incredibly interesting given that Truth Social and Rumble both raised a boatload of cash this week from hedge funds to compete with Gab". On December 4, Torba said that "All new Gab accounts must now be manually approved by our team until further notice". According to The Daily Beast, "It is unclear whether such a cyberattack took place or what specific "bots" the Gab CEO was referring to but a casual search of the platform does show numerous accounts advertising "escort" services."[136]
On January 24, 2022, Torba announced that Gab would sponsor the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) run by white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes. Torba also criticized the Conservative Political Action Conference and Turning Point USA, saying that "CPAC is sponsored by Facebook and Google among other billionaires" and "TPUSA is sponsored by atheist libertarian billionaires." Torba has also entered into a partnership with Fuentes' livestreaming service. Torba received backlash from Gab users over the sponsorship, with many pointing out that Fuentes had recently made harsh comments about Gab users, including one comment calling users "fucking retarded" and another comment stating: "Average IQ on Gab is like 50". Many of Gab's donors said that they would stop funding Gab. In response to the backlash, Torba said that "Controversy is attention. Attention is influence" and that "The point of marketing is to influence people to get off Big Tech and get on Gab. In order to do that I need their attention."[137] It was later announced that Torba would be a guest speaker at the AFPAC.[138] Torba also created an account on Fuentes' livestreaming service.[138]
In an email to The New York Times regarding a July 2022 article about the rise of white Christian nationalism, Torba wrote, "Jesus Christ is King of Kings and we are going to lawfully, peacefully, and democratically take back this country and our culture in his name" and that "[t]here is absolutely nothing you or any of the other powers and principalities can do to stop us."[17] 2ff7e9595c
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