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At a time when the political climate is as complex as ever and ripe with mistrust and tension, the bubbling up of public opinion on decisions made and actions taken by figureheads is enormous. The polarizing views have organically drawn like-minded individuals together through a shared grievance or ideology. But what happens when the opinions shared by these groups are seen by societal norms to be different and teetering on hate or violence? Well, what happens is that these accounts get shut down on mainstream social platforms, but the actors behind the accounts don't stop. They simply travel to alt-social platforms where their conversation continues with very little moderation if at all. And here enters Gab.
About Gab
Gab was founded in 2016 by Andrew Torba, who positioned it as a "free speech" alternative to mainstream social networks. The platform emerged in response to perceived censorship on major sites like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, particularly of conservative voices. Gab bills itself as a champion of free expression and individual liberty online.
But the platform has not been void of scandal. In 2018, the platform gained notoriety when it was revealed that the perpetrator of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting had posted antisemitic content on Gab shortly before the attack. This led to multiple de-platforming attempts, with several service providers and payment processors severing ties with the company.
February Data Breach at Gab
Let's not forget that Gab was hacked.
In February of 2021, the Gab data breach exposed 70 gigabytes of data, including 40 million public and private posts, messages, and user profiles. The breach provided significant insights into the platform's user base and growth.
The leaked data confirmed Gab's claims of rapid growth and revealed its appeal to a predominantly right-wing audience, many of whom joined after being banned from mainstream social media.
Despite the leak and previous platform scandal, Gab continues to thrive today, operating purely by website with no mobile app presence. It is still seen as a very viable alt-social platform and is used by many individuals and groups needing a space to post nationalist ideologies and the like.
Here are five key points every analyst should be aware of regarding Gab:
1. Platform for Extremist Content:
Gab is widely recognized as a haven for far-right users, including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and conspiracy theorists. It positions itself as a "free speech" platform with minimal content moderation. This policy has allowed content that would be removed from mainstream social media sites to flourish, including hate speech and extremist ideologies.
2. Alternative Tech Infrastructure:
After being dropped by various service providers, including payment processors and hosting services, Gab has built out its own "alternative internet" infrastructure. This platform ecosystem adds another layer of awareness when listening to threatening chatter on alt-social platforms such as Gab, but it is essential to be aware of this.
The Gab self-built infrastructure includes a whole host of services, making them truly independent and void of operational shut downs from mainstream entities. The infrastructure build includes:
- Hosting services
- Payment processing
- 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
- Browser extension for commenting on third-party websites
3. Rapid Growth
Gab has seen tremendous growth amongst users in the U.S.:
- The platform is estimated to have nearly 5 million registered users.
- As of January 2024, about 11% of U.S. adults have heard of Gab.
- 1% of Americans say they get news from Gab regularly - this translates to roughly 3.5 million people.
4. User Demographics
Understanding Gab's user base is crucial for threat assessment:
- Approximately 80% of prominent Gab accounts reference values or political orientations in their profiles.
- 37% of these accounts express patriotic or pro-American messages.
- 35% indicate right-leaning views or support for former President Donald Trump.
- There is a definite user profile overlap with Truth Social, another alt-social site driven by promoting less encumbered social platforms.
5. Content Trends
Analysts should be aware of the types of discussions prevalent on Gab:
A study of prominent Gab accounts in June 2022 found high levels of engagement with controversial topics such as
- 80% posted about guns and gun rights
- 74% discussed abortion
- 73% addressed LGBTQ issues
- 70% posted about vaccines
- 69% mentioned the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack
Conclusion
Monitoring Gab has become increasingly crucial for threat analysts and protective intelligence professionals. The platform's minimal content moderation approach, its growing user base, and the nature of discussions taking place make it a potential hotbed for colorful rhetoric and coordinated activities. Staying informed about Gab's evolution and content trends is crucial and an activity we cannot see going away any time soon.