Gab

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Gab's current logo is really green and boring, though it is fashioned from freshly skinned frogs. At least with the previous logo, you can make Pepe jokes about it.
Frogs, clowns, and swastikas
Alt-right
Icon altright.svg
Chuds
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time
Buzzwords and dogwhistles
Free speech for everyone.
—Official slogan[1]

Gab.com (formerly Gab.ai[2][note 1]) is a social network website founded in Austin, Texas in August 2016 by CEO Andrew Torba as a "free speech" alternative to Facebook and Twitter. Apparently, the website was founded in response to Facebook employees suppressing conservative™ articles (according to Torba, though those in the reality-based community might disagree)[3] and the "entirely left-leaning Big Social monopoly" by mainstream social media platforms.[4]

Despite its initially innocuous appearance and good intentions such as its "people and free speech first" policy, the website has unsurprisingly (see 8chan, another free speech Internet experiment) become a refuge for cranks, conspiracy theorists, alt-righters, white supremacists, white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites, internet trolls, homophobes/transphobes, Islamophobes, terrorists/extremists, denialists (Holocaust, Obama birther and climate change), and other unsavory creatures of the web.

Gab has since become the dumping ground for all things banned from Twitter,[note 2] and not in a good way. Until 2018, the logo of the website was a frog (which screamed Pepe the Frog, though Torba denies the connection, claiming that it was inspired from Bible verses Exodus 8:1–12 and Psalms 78:45). The website is one of the several outlets that form the alt-tech.

The website has over 835,000 users. However, on the bright side, as of 2019, it only has 19,526 active user accounts.[5] The site lacks a full-text search feature but supports searching by hashtags.

Torba's ultimate goal with Gab is to create a full-fledged right-wing tech ecosystem dedicated to his militant version of "Christianity", which is based on radical white nationalist pique toward non-Christians, QAnon conspiratorial thinking, and outrage at everything "elite". [6]

Dissenter[edit]

In February 2019, Andrew Torba introduced Dissenter, a new project that claimed to be "the comments section of the internet".[note 3] It is a browser add-on that allows people to comment on news websites. Not so surprisingly, it has been blocked by Mozilla and Google for attracting the same audience that Gab brings in. Dissenter has been called "the (browser) extension of the far right." Gab also offers a web browser also called "Dissenter" (a fork of Brave Browser) to respond to being blocked by Mozilla and Google.[7] The WindowsWikipedia and Linux versions of the browser (v1.5.114) were last updated March 2020, whereas the macOS version (0.70.122) was last updated on November 2019, meaning the browser is functionally abandonware (or at the very least, concerningly old).

Relaunch[edit]

In July 2019, Gab was relaunched after struggling from the fallout of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The relaunched site was built on the free software Mastodon, but not in affiliation with its developers.[8] The nature of the free AGPL3 license that Mastodon is licensed under prevents its team from doing anything about Gab's fork.[9] Thankfully, Gab's viewership has been plummeting since the updates.[10]

Controversies[edit]

Because of its content, Gab.com has been banned from several outlets. Apple banned Gab due to its pornographic content, while Twitter blocked it for its feature that shares posts from the site on Twitter.[11] Unsurprisingly, Google Play also banned the website for violating its hate speech policy.[12] In response, Gab.com sued Google for violating antitrust laws.[13]

On September 5, 2017, Gab.com was forced to censor a post deemed offensive by Instra Corporation in 48 hours.[14] The next day, the company got embroiled in another censorship controversy when domain company AsiaRegistry demanded that Andrew Anglin's offensive post about Heather Heyer's killing at the Unite the Right rally be removed; the company complied by removing his post.[15]

On October 27, 2018, crazed anti-semite Robert Bowers killed 11 people at the Tree of Life, a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[16] The suspect was found to be an active user of Gab, and used the platform as an echo chamber for racist, anti-Semitic and bigoted ideology. Bowers blamed Jews for bringing in Central American migrants into the United States, claiming "HIAS [Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society] likes to bring invaders that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in,"[17] and "Why Hello there HIAS! You like to bring hostile invaders to dwell among us? We appreciate the list of friends you have provided."[17] He believed that there was a white genocide, writing "Daily Reminder: Diversity means chasing down the last white person," featured the neo-Nazi catchphrase 1488 on his profile at least twice (on his account picture and the other in a post titled "Make Ovens 1488 F Again"), and reposted other anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi and Holocaust denial/Holocaust-related content from other users such as Patrick Little and Daily Stormer writer "Grandpa Lampshade". Shortly thereafter, Paypal suspended Gab from their service, and Gab's hosting provider gave them the boot.[18][19][20][21]

The hate flows down from the top[edit]

Unsurprisingly, Andrew Torba, Gab's CEO, is antisemitic like much of Gab's userbase is. In October 29 2021, he tweeted a tirade regarding his desire to create a "parallel Christian society" due to being "fed up and done with the Judeo-BolshevikWikipedia one", and supported this with antisemitic comics from StoneToss. [22][23] On his social feed on Gab, Torbin has even fewer problems whipping out anti-Semitic tropes in his posts, such as "Zionists" being responsible for creating the Federal Reserve (which for some reason is a "subversion of American Christianity") [24], or "Jews control the media". [25]

In late January 2022, Torba announced that Gab would sponsor as well as give a speech at the America First Political Action Conference, the neo-Nazi alternative political conference to CPACWikipedia run by neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.[26] In the announcement, Torba declared that he wanted "unity on the right", then proceeded to trash-talk CPAC for supposedly being "sponsored by Facebook and Google" and Turning Point USA for being "sponsored by atheist libertarian billionaires". This announcement actually was extreme enough to piss off many Gab members. [27][28][29]

In the rest of 2022, Torba doubled down on his hardcore Christian nationalist side as well as his antisemitism. In one video, for instance, he stated that he believed that modern right-wing politics in America "is an explicitly Christian movement because this is an explicitly Christian country", and then tied this to his support for transforming America into a Christian theocracy. ("You're not going to be forced to convert or anything like this, but you're going to enjoy…the fruits of living in a Christian society under Christian laws.")[30][31] Torba's belief that the conservative movement should be 100% Christian meant that even prominent Jewish conservatives such as Ben Shapiro and Dave Rubin were verboten. ("They don't share our values. They have inverted values from us as Christians.")[32] On his social media accounts, Torba continued to repost many antisemitic posts from his platform's users, including the white genocide/HIASWikipedia conspiracy theory espoused by mass murderer Bowers; praise for Holocaust denial; complaints about supposed ""Jewish influence" in government, business, and the media; and a post stating that "the Jews killed Christ".[33]

All of this culminated in October 2022 when Torba, along with a pastor named Andrew Isker, self-published a book entitled Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations. In this book, Torba described his vision of building up a parallel "Christian" society that eventually will "fill the vacuum of the secular state when it falls" (exactly why the state will fall, beyond Torba's belief that the "system" is "wicked and corrupt", is not exactly clear). Torba's version of "Christianity" naturally is severely tilted towards culture war topics (including transphobic, homophobic, and anti-abortion rhetoric, not to mention the typical misuse of snarl words such as "Marxist" and "woke"). Other bits of this book focused on "traditional values" concepts such as masculinity and patriarchy, fire and brimstone rhetoric, spiritual warfare, and eventual Dominionism. The religious ideology that Torba tolerates is very narrow; not only is his bête noire religions, such as Judaism, "a false religion", but "if you say you are a Christian and you reject “Christian Nationalism,” you are just a disobedient Christian."[34][35][36]

Torba also endorsed several far-right Republican politicians in the 2022 midterm elections that also flirted with Christian nationalism ideology. These endorsements were often extremely controversial (and not welcomed by some, though not all, of the endorsed candidates) thanks to Torba's rabid antisemitism.[31][32] Unsurprisingly, Torba is against the COVID-19 vaccine, and has used quackery like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to "treat" the bouts of COVID-19 he caught.[37]

See also[edit]

  • Christian Identity, a strain of Christianity comparable to Torba's (that is, assuming it isn't precisely what he believes in)
  • PewTube, a failed "free speech", alt-right alternative to YouTube that was rife with the same type of content as Gab.
  • 8chan, another example of what normally happens when you don't set speech limits.

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Possibly a peculiar reference to gabbai,Wikipedia a position in the Jewish religion for people who work to assist a synagogue or rabbi in some way.
  2. At least prior to its acquisition by Elon Musk, which has kind of thrown cold water on Gab's entire business model. That is not great news for Torba, since Gab had already been experiencing longstanding financial issues.
  3. a.k.a. introducing hate speech on news sites' comments sections.

References[edit]

  1. Feeling Sidelined By Mainstream Social Media, Far-Right Users Jump To Gab by Alina Selyukh (May 21, 2017 at 6:46 AM ET) All Tech Considered: NPR.
  2. Raymond Hackney (September 22, 2018). "Gab.ai upgrades to Gab.com". TheDomains.
  3. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/arts/the-far-right-has-a-new-digital-safe-space.html
  4. https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/new-social-network-gab-growing-fast-free-speech
  5. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/02/14/no-way-gab-has-800000-users-web-host-says
  6. "The CEO Trying to Build a White, Christian, Secessionist Tech Industry" by Jacob Silverman, The New Republic, 2021 August 23
  7. Frequently Asked Questions. Archived from dissenter.com, 15 April 2021.
  8. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/07/statement-on-gabs-fork-of-mastodon/
  9. https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/blob/master/LICENSE
  10. https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/gab.com
  11. https://www.inc.com/salvador-rodriguez/gab-apple-twitter.html
  12. https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/17/alt-social-network-gab-booted-from-google-play-store-for-hate-speech/
  13. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/09/twitter-rival-gab-sues-google-over-app-store-rejection/
  14. https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/09/gab-ai-forced-to-censor-post-after-registrar-company-issues-threat/38824/
  15. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16259150/gab-ai-registrar-andrew-anglin-daily-stormer-crackdown
  16. Campbell Robertson, Christopher Mele and Sabrina Tavernise, 11 Killed in Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts. The New York Times, 27 October 2018.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Robert Bowers · @onedingo Gab (archived from 27 Oct 2018 15:30:05 UTC).
  18. What's Gab, the social platform used by the Pittsburgh shooting suspect? CNN, 27 October 2018.
  19. Andrew Liptak, Paypal bans Gab following Pittsburgh shooting. The Verge, 27 October 2018.
  20. Gab.com on Twitter, 27 October 2018.

    Gab’s new hosting provider, has just pulled our hosting service. They have given us until 9am on Monday to find a solution. Gab will likely be down for weeks because of this.

  21. Alan Pyke, Gab, the hate-breeding social network Robert Bowers used, is going dark for now. Think Progress, 28 October 2018.
  22. "Gab’s CEO deactivates Twitter account after wildly antisemitic tirade"
  23. "Gab CEO Andrew Torba Broadcasts His Antisemitism Across Social Media Platforms", ADL, 2021 December 15
  24. "Gab CEO Andrew Torba Broadcasts His Antisemitism Across Social Media Platforms", ADL, 2021 December 15
  25. "The ADL attacked President Trump and I in the same week. Because the things we are saying are true!", Andrew Torba, Gab, 2021 December 20, archived on 2021 December 20
  26. "Tonight I will be giving a speech live at AFPAC. I hope you can tune in. Shortly before I give my speech I will be publishing the transcript on Gab News. My goal with this speech is to inspire the next generation to build the Parallel Economy for the Glory of God. The title of the speech is GAB: Go And Build.", Andrew Torba, GAB, 2022 February 25, archived on 2022 February 25
  27. "The growing links between Gab CEO Andrew Torba and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes" by Alex Kaplan, Media Matters, 2022 February 18
  28. "Gab users are furious after its CEO announces partnership with notorious white nationalist" by Claire Goforth, Daily Dot, 2022 January 25
  29. "Gab is glad to be sponsoring AFPAC 3.", Andrew Torba, post on Gab, 2022 January 25, archived on 2022 March 1
  30. "Mastriano under fire for payment to 'Christian nationalist' platform" by Allan Smith, NBC News, 2022 July 28
  31. 31.0 31.1 "Gab Founder Andrew Torba Wants to Build a Christian Nationalist Internet" by Tess Owen, Vice News, 2022 September 29
  32. 32.0 32.1 "Far-right platform Gab veers into overt antisemitism — and only some Republicans back away" by Kathryn Joyce, Salon, 2022 August 13
  33. "Doug Mastriano consultant Andrew Torba reposts attacks on Jews for “white genocide,” subversion, and domination" by Eric Hananoki, Media Matters, 2022 July 20
  34. "I Read the Gab CEO’s Awful New Christian Nationalism Book So You Don’t Have To" by Rebekah Kohlhepp, She Seeks Nonfiction blog, 2022 September 11
  35. "Book co-authored by Gab CEO Andrew Torba makes Amazon bestseller list" by Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider, 2022 September 14
  36. "We read the Gab founder's how-to guide to Christian nationalism. The book is part of a new trend of conservatives openly embracing the ideology." by Kelsey Vlamis, Business Insider, 2022 October 23
  37. "So I had "Covid" again. Was nothing at all like the first time which was only a few months ago. 48 hours of Ivermectin, Hydroxy, and a Z pack and I am testing negative now. It seriously felt like a 24 hour head cold. I don't trust these covid tests at all. I don't trust a single thing we have been told by "the experts" at all either. All I know is I am thankful that God gave me a glorious immune system and that I remain unvaxxed from Big Pharma's clot shot.", Andrew Torba, Gab, 2022 January 30, archived on 2022 January 30