Goodbye, Gab

Ken AshfordRightwing Extremism/Violence, Social Media & NetworkingLeave a Comment

CNN:

Gab has been taken offline following revelations that the suspected Pittsburgh synagogue gunman used the social network to threaten Jews.

A statement on the platform’s website Monday said it would be “inaccessible for a period of time” after several web hosting services declined its business.

Gab said it has also been removed from app stores and refused service by payment processing firms.

Gab.com is under attack,” the company said in the statement. “We have been systematically no-platformed [and] smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all people.”

Ah, yes!  GAB.COM is the real


The platform has come under scrutiny after it emerged that suspected gunman Robert Bowers frequently targeted Jews in his Gab posts, and even logged onto the platform shortly before allegedly killing 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue.

Gab, which bills itself as “the free speech social network,” said that it was working “around the clock” to restore service.

Yeah, I wouldn’t count on it.

What surprises me is the speed with which this taking-down has happened. Of course, it should have happened before.

There has to be a good way to goad not only advertisers, but domain and server providers to be alerted about these sites and apps.  Right now, they are scared to intercede, for fear of being branded as anti-free speech — EVEN THOUGH THESE FAR RIGHT GROUPS VIOLATE THE TERMS OF SERVICE!

Gab said on Twitter that it has been banned from using payment processors Stripe and PayPal, as well as cloud hosting service Joyent. It said online publisher Medium had also removed its posts.

GoDaddy, which allows people or companies to register internet addresses, said it had given Gab 24 hours to move to a different service. The deadline will expire Monday night PST.

Bye, bye, bye.