Gab, the social network that had a big following among the far right, has been taken offline after GoDaddy, the domain provider, gave it 24 hours to find a new service provider.
The Verge, citing GoDaddy, reported the move on the part of the domain provider came after PayPal, Medium, Stripe and Joyent blocked Gab this past weekend after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synoguage that left 11 members dead. Robert Bowers, the suspect in the shooting, had a history of posting anti-Semitic rants on the messaging app Gab. “We have informed Gab.com that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service. In response to complaints received over the weekend, GoDaddy investigated and discovered numerous instances of content on the site that both promotes and encourages violence against people,” GoDaddy said in a statement to The Verge.
Gab left a message on its website, according to the report, in which it claims it is “under attack” and is working to get it back online with a new provider. “We have been smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all people and for working with law enforcement to ensure that justice is served for the horrible atrocity committed in Pittsburgh,” the statement reads. Gab noted that it suspended the man’s account immediately and is cooperating with authorities but disagrees that it holds any responsibility for the environment that has drawn so many alt right people to its platform.
The Verge noted that on Sunday (October 28) Gab’s Twitter feed said the network expects to be down for weeks because of the move by Joyent, the hosting provider for Gab, to pull support. A more recent Tweet says Gab will be back soon. Big companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft are also taking steps to get Gab off its platforms in recent weeks, noted the report. In pulling support for Gab, The Verge reported Stripe said the account was suspended because Gab didn’t provide “sufficient evidence that Gab actually prevents violations of our policies in your Gab Pro service or any other portion of your service that relies on Stripe for monetization.”