Gab (social network)

Gab AI, Inc.
Type of site
Microblogging, Social networking service
Available inEnglish
Founded2016
Headquarters
700 North State Street, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
Founder(s)Andrew Torba, CEO
Ekrem Büyükkaya, CTO[1]
CEOAndrew Torba
IndustryInternet
ServicesGab, Gab AI, Gab News, Gab TV, Gab Chat, Gab Ads, Gab Trends, GabPro, Dissenter (web browser), Dissenter (browser extension)
URLgab.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired to post
Users100,000 (estimated active)
5 million (total) as of 2022
LaunchedAugust 15, 2016; 8 years ago (August 15, 2016) (private beta)
May 8, 2017; 7 years ago (May 8, 2017) (open registration)
July 4, 2019; 5 years ago (July 4, 2019) (switch to customized Mastodon fork and relaunched)
Current statusActive
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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, 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][12] Gab is based in Pennsylvania.[17]

Researchers note that Gab has been "repeatedly linked to radicalization leading to real-world violent events".[18] The site received extensive public scrutiny following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October 2018. The perpetrator of the attack, Robert Gregory Bowers, had a history of making extreme, antisemitic postings on the platform, as well as messages indicating an immediate intent to cause harm before the shooting.[19][20][21] After the shooting, Gab briefly went offline when it was dropped by its hosting provider and denied service by several payment processors.[22][23][24] In 2021, Gab was among the platforms used to plan the United States Capitol attack on January 6.[25] Also in 2021, Gab suffered from a data breach called "GabLeaks".[26]

Gab's functionality is similar to that of Twitter.[27][28] Users of Gab can publish posts, initiate private chats, join groups, livestream and buy products.[17] The company also maintains an email service, cloud service, text messaging service, advertisement sales system, server farm, marketplace website, news aggregation website, advertising platform, video-conferencing platform, blog, video hosting, web browser, and browser extension to allow commenting on third-party websites.[13][29][30][31][32][33][34] In July 2019, Gab switched its software infrastructure to a fork of Mastodon, a free and open-source social network platform. Mastodon released a statement in protest, denouncing Gab as trying to "monetize and platform racist content while hiding behind the banner of free speech".[35][36]

  1. ^ Wolverton, Troy (October 27, 2018). "The suspected Pittsburgh shooter allegedly had a following on a social network that many call the far-right's alternative to Twitter — here's everything we know about Gab". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Selyukh 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Jasser 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zeng 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schumacher 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Gab gets new domain host, expects to be back online Sunday". www.cbsnews.com. November 3, 2018. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Far right was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wilson 2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Bagavathi, Arunkumar; Bashiri, Pedram; Reid, Shannon; Phillips, Matthew; Krishnan, Siddharth (August 27, 2019). "Examining untempered social media". Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining. ASONAM '19. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 625–632. arXiv:1906.04261. doi:10.1145/3341161.3343695. ISBN 978-1-4503-6868-1. S2CID 184487444.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zhou 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference StartEngine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Dias 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Fox 2022b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Timberg 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Thalen 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zannettou 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference What is Gab was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ribeiro 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Hutchinson, Bill; Levine, Mike; Weinstein, Janet; Seyler, Matt (October 28, 2018). "'Screw the optics, I'm going in': Alleged shooter posts on social media before attack". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  20. ^ Trautwein, Catherine; Thompson, A. C. (November 16, 2018). "Brothers Whom Authorities Linked to Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Had Flyer Supporting Neo-Nazi Group, Officials Say". ProPublica. Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pagliery 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Molina, Brett (October 29, 2018). "Gab, the social network used by accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, goes offline". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Linton 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Baker 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Allyn 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Greenberg 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hall 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lonas 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Miller, Cassie; Carroll Rivas, Rachel (March 9, 2022). "The Year in Hate & Extremism 2021". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  30. ^ Conklin, Audrey (July 10, 2020). "What is Gab.com?". Fox Business. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Morse 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gilbert 2019a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference Online News Challenge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fox 2022a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ "Gab switches to Mastodon's code". Official Mastodon Blog. July 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference Makuch 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).