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
SWAT police officers respond after a gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Reuters
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The man who allegedly opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning, killing 11 people and injuring six, was reportedly a frequent poster on Gab, a relatively new social network that has attracted many from the far-right fringe.
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"HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people," he wrote, according to an archive of his Gab posts. "I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in.
Gab, which bills itself as the free-speech alternative to Facebook and Twitter, has become a haven for far-right extremists. The site does not police hate speech, instead encouraging users to take advantage of its tools to filter out posts they find offensive.
Here's what we know about Gab:
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Gab was launched in August 2016.
Gab
Initially, consumers could only use the site if they'd been invited to register.
Torba founded Gab with Ekrem Büyükkaya, with whom he'd worked at AutomateAds.com.
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Torba launched Gab as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, which has drawn the ire of some on the far right for banning people like Milo Yiannopoulos.
Getty
Torba told BuzzFeed News he had been frustrated with the way "left leaning Big Social" sites were filtering posts, feeling like they weren't qualified to judge what was news or harassment.
"It didn't feel right to me, and I wanted to change it, and give people something that would be fair and just," he told BuzzFeed News.
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Torba touts Gab for its commitment to free speech.
One of many antisemitic posts that can be easily found on Gab.
Gab
Gab's guidelines prohibit users from posting certain kinds of things, such as threats of violence, illegal pornography, and other users' private information, without their consent.
But it generally doesn't bar posts that many might consider abusive or hateful. Instead, it offers features that allow users to filter out offensive posts.
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The site quickly became a popular hangout for white supremacists.
Despite being kicked off of Twitter and other online services, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones retains an active presence on Gab.
Gab
Gab has an open-door policy for far-right figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones, who have been kicked off of Twitter and other tech platforms.
Although the site purports to be open to anyone who shares "in the common ideals of Western values, individual liberty, and the free exchange and flow of information," it's most frequently populated by far-right ideologies.
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The service is relatively small.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, which remains the world's biggest social network.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
By comparison, Twitter has some 326 million monthly active users, including 67 million in the US, and Facebook has some 2.2 billion users a month around the world, including 185 million in the US and Canada.
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Gab's run into trouble before.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, which threatened to kick Gab off its Azure service in August.
ANDREW HARRER / BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY
Gab ran into a similar problem last year, when its domain registrar, responding to anti-Semitic threats, threatened to seize its domain if it didn't find a new host.
In 2016, Apple blocked Gab from its App store, citing pornographic content and hate speech.
Google also blocked the app from its Google Play store for hate speech.
After the Pittsburgh shooting, PayPal announced it was dropping the company.
In another tweet, Gab seemed to brag that it was getting "1 million hits an hour all day", then took issue with a Twitter user describing the tweet as "bragging."
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Gab also posted an official statement condemning "all acts of terrorism and violence" and said it was cooperating with authorities.
The site posted an official statement on the shooting:
"Gab.com's policy on terrorism and violence have always been very clear: we a have zero tolerance for it. Gab unequivocally disavows and condemns all acts of terrorism and violence. This has always been our policy. We are saddened and disgusted by the news of violence in Pittsburgh and are keeping the families and friends of all victims in our thoughts and prayers.
"We 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."
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