A number of controversial and important figures are encouraging people to join them on the controversial social media site Gab, if Parler goes offline as expected.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Trust and security said that ParlerCEO of John Matze that that will stop hosting the social media site, which is used mainly by conservatives and the far right, after a series of accounts were discovered for promoting violence before and after the attack on the US Capitol on Wednesday.
In response, Matze warned users Parler will be offline for up to a week and said it would be “rebuild from scratch.”
“This was an attack coordinated by the technology giants to eliminate competition in the market”, Matze wrote in Parler. “We were very successful very quickly.”
In response, a number of popular uses in Parler-a haven for conservatives and far-right figures banned from other platforms – people are now asked to join them on an equally controversial social media platform, Gab.
What is Gab?
Gab, which was founded in 2016, prides itself on being a “free speech” platform with almost no censorship rules and has a layout and function similar to Twitter.
The site describes itself as a “social network for creators who believe in freedom of expression, individual freedom and the free flow of information online”.
It is known to be used by neo-Nazis and other white supremacists unable to post your hate speech on other platforms.
In 2018, Gab temporarily closed after its hosting provider GoDaddy crashed when posts related to the alleged shooter from the Tree of Life Synagogue, which killed 11 people in Pittsburgh, appeared on the platform.
In addition to sharing a series of anti-Semitic and racist comments and images, Robert Bowers reportedly wrote “Damn your optics, I’m going in” during a post-attack on the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, before carrying out the attack.
Before that, Google removed the far-right social network in 2017 from its app store for violating its hate speech ban.
Gab says he hosts his website on his own servers and has reported problems dealing with the recent surge in traffic.
The website was founded by Andrew Torba. He created Gab because he thought the existing social media options were too liberal and even biased around the 2016 elections.
“I didn’t plan on building a ‘conservative social network’ in any way, but I felt it was time for a conservative leader to come forward and provide a forum where anyone can come and speak freely without fear of censorship,” Torba said the Washington Post in November 2016.
“All major media, all major social networks, are managed, owned, controlled and operated by progressive leaders, progressive workers in Silicon Valley.”
Are Parler users entering Gab?
The social media site is now reporting a sharp increase in new users and visits after the apparent planned shutdown of Parler and other social media sites suspending multiple accounts, most notably Donald Trump’s, after the attack on Congress.
“More than 500,000 new users today. 18 million visits. You don’t need an account to use the site,” tweeted Gab to his 223,000 Twitter followers. “The Exodus from Silicon Valley has begun. Enter the Ark … The best is yet to come.”
The account also said on Saturday that the site was receiving more than 10,000 new users per hour. Newsweek was unable to verify this claim.
A Texas congressman, Congressman Michael Cloud, is among those who encouraged his Twitter followers to join him at Gab, as well as at Parler, since the Capitol riot took place.
An influential QAnon supporter, known as Joe M, shared his name of Gab in Parler, writing, “They are struggling to handle traffic, but this is where you can find me when Parler it gets dark. Geronimo. “
Attorney Sydney Powell the QAnon The defender who helped try to overturn a series of election results with Trump-supporting conspiracy theorists, Lin Wood, also urged her followers to join her at Gab before Parler goes offline.
Gab was contacted for further comments.
ERIC BARADAT / AFP / Getty