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| users = 100,000 (estimated active)<br />5{{nbsp}}million (total) {{as of|2022|lc=yes}}
| current_status = Active
| founder = {{nowrap|Andrew Torba, [[CEO]]}}<br />{{nowrap|Ekrem Büyükkaya, [[chief technology officer|CTO]]}}<ref name="Wolverton 2018">{{cite web |last=Wolverton |first=Troy |date=October 27, 2018
}}{{Antisemitism sidebar}}
'''Gab''' is an American [[alt-tech]] [[microblogging]] and [[social networking service]] known for its [[far-right]] userbase.<ref name="Selyukh 2017"/><ref name="Jasser 2021"/><ref name="Zeng 2021"/><ref name="Schumacher 2022"/> Widely described as a haven for [[neo-Nazi]]s, [[Racism|racists]], [[white supremacist]]s, [[White nationalism|white nationalists]], [[Antisemitism|antisemites]], the [[alt-right]], [[Trumpism|supporters of]] [[Donald Trump]], [[Conservatism|conservatives]], [[Right-libertarianism|right-libertarians]], and believers in [[Conspiracy theories in United States politics|conspiracy theories]] such as [[QAnon]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gab gets new domain host, expects to be back online Sunday |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gab-new-domain-host-epik-robert-bowers-pittsburgh-shooting/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=November 3, 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Far right"/> Gab has attracted users and groups who have been banned from other social media platforms and users seeking alternatives to mainstream social media platforms.<ref name="Wilson 2016"/><ref name="Bagavathi 2019">{{Cite book |last1=Bagavathi |first1=Arunkumar |last2=Bashiri |first2=Pedram |last3=Reid |first3=Shannon |last4=Phillips |first4=Matthew |last5=Krishnan |first5=Siddharth |title=Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining |chapter=Examining untempered social media |date=2019-08-27 |series=ASONAM '19 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]] |pages=625–632 |doi=10.1145/3341161.3343695 |arxiv=1906.04261 |isbn=978-1-4503-6868-1 |s2cid=184487444}}</ref><ref name="Zhou 2019" /> Founded in 2016 and launched publicly in May 2017,<ref name="Jasser 2021" /><ref name="StartEngine" /> Gab claims to promote [[free speech]], [[individual liberty]], the "free flow of information online", and [[Christian values]].<ref name="Dias 2022"/><ref name="Fox 2022b"/><ref name="Timberg 2018"/><ref name="Thalen 2021"/> Researchers and journalists have characterized these assertions as an obfuscation of its [[extremist]] ecosystem.<ref name="Fox 2022b" /><ref name="Zannettou 2018"/> [[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]].<ref name="Fox 2022b" /><ref name="Timberg 2018"/><ref name="Thalen 2021"/><ref name="Dias 2022"/> Gab is based in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="What is Gab"/>
Gab's functionality is similar to that of [[Twitter]].<ref name="Hall 2019" /><ref name="Lonas 2021"/> Users of Gab can publish posts, initiate private chats, join groups, livestream and buy products.<ref name="What is Gab" /> The company also maintains an [[Mailbox provider|email service]], [[cloud service]], [[Text messaging|text messaging service]], advertisement sales system, [[server farm]], marketplace website, [[News aggregator|news aggregation website]], [[Advertising|advertising platform]], [[Video-conferencing|video-conferencing platform]], [[blog]], [[Online video platform|video hosting]], [[web browser]], and [[browser extension]] to allow commenting on third-party websites.<ref name="Fox 2022b" /><ref name="Miller 2022">{{Cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Cassie |last2=Carroll Rivas |first2=Rachel |date=March 9, 2022 |title=The Year in Hate & Extremism 2021 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20220309/year-hate-extremism-2021 |access-date=March 12, 2022 |website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Conklin 2020">{{cite web |last=Conklin |first=Audrey |date=July 10, 2020 |title=What is Gab.com? |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/what-is-gab |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808002826/https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/what-is-gab |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |access-date=August 9, 2020 |website=[[Fox Business]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Morse 2020" /><ref name="Gilbert 2019a" /><ref name="Online News Challenge" /><ref name="Fox 2022a" /> In July 2019, Gab switched its software infrastructure to a [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of [[Mastodon (software)|Mastodon]], a [[free and open-source]] social network platformname="Mastodon's Code">{{Cite web |title=Gab switches to Mastodon's code |url=http://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/07/statement-on-gabs-fork-of-mastodon/ |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=Official Mastodon Blog |date=July 4, 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Makuch 2019"/>▼
Researchers note that Gab has been "repeatedly linked to radicalization leading to real-world violent events".<ref name="Ribeiro 2021"/> 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.<ref name="Hutchinson 2018">{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-alleged-mass-shooter-told-swat-officers/story?id=58803485 |title='Screw the optics, I'm going in': Alleged shooter posts on social media before attack |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Bill |last2=Levine |first2=Mike |date=October 28, 2018 |work=[[ABC News]] |access-date=July 3, 2019 |last3=Weinstein |first3=Janet |last4=Seyler |first4=Matt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722205039/https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-alleged-mass-shooter-told-swat-officers/story?id=58803485 |archive-date=July 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Trautwein 2018">{{cite news |last1=Trautwein |first1=Catherine |last2=Thompson |first2=A. C. |title=Brothers Whom Authorities Linked to Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Had Flyer Supporting Neo-Nazi Group, Officials Say |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/brothers-whom-authorities-linked-to-pittsburgh-shooting-suspect-had-flyer-supporting-neo-nazi-group-officials-say |access-date=August 28, 2019 |publisher=[[ProPublica]] |date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128165933/https://www.propublica.org/article/brothers-whom-authorities-linked-to-pittsburgh-shooting-suspect-had-flyer-supporting-neo-nazi-group-officials-say |archive-date=November 28, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Pagliery 2018"/> After the shooting, Gab briefly went offline when it was dropped by its hosting provider and denied service by several payment processors.<ref name="Molina 2018">{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/10/29/gab-goes-offline-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/1804582002/ |title=Gab, the social network used by accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, goes offline |last=Molina |first=Brett |date=October 29, 2018 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029200235/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/10/29/gab-goes-offline-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/1804582002/ |archive-date=October 29, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Linton 2018"/><ref name="Baker 2018" /> In 2021, Gab was among the platforms used to plan the [[2021 storming of the United States Capitol|United States Capitol attack]] on January 6.<ref name="Allyn 2021"/> Also in 2021, Gab suffered from a data breach called "GabLeaks".<ref name="Greenberg 2021" />
▲Gab's functionality is similar to that of [[Twitter]].<ref name="Hall 2019" /><ref name="Lonas 2021"/> Users of Gab can publish posts, initiate private chats, join groups, livestream and buy products.<ref name="What is Gab" /> The company also maintains an [[Mailbox provider|email service]], [[cloud service]], [[Text messaging|text messaging service]], advertisement sales system, [[server farm]], marketplace website, [[News aggregator|news aggregation website]], [[Advertising|advertising platform]], [[Video-conferencing|video-conferencing platform]], [[blog]], [[Online video platform|video hosting]], [[web browser]], and [[browser extension]] to allow commenting on third-party websites.<ref name="Fox 2022b" /><ref name="Miller 2022">{{Cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Cassie |last2=Carroll Rivas |first2=Rachel |date=March 9, 2022 |title=The Year in Hate & Extremism 2021 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20220309/year-hate-extremism-2021 |access-date=March 12, 2022 |website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Conklin 2020">{{cite web |last=Conklin |first=Audrey |date=July 10, 2020 |title=What is Gab.com? |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/what-is-gab |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808002826/https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/what-is-gab |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |access-date=August 9, 2020 |website=[[Fox Business]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Morse 2020" /><ref name="Gilbert 2019a" /><ref name="Online News Challenge" /><ref name="Fox 2022a" /> In July 2019, Gab switched its software infrastructure to a [[Fork (software development)|fork]] of [[Mastodon (software)|Mastodon]], a [[free and open-source]] social network
==History==
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