The social media platform Gab, a networking site popular among far-right users, saw a spike in website traffic and growth after the Capitol attacks and President Trump
Donald Trump: McConnell Spreads Procedures For Second Senate Trial Over Trump Impeachment Trump Proposes Building Own Platform Following Twitter Ban Poll: 18 Percent of Republicans Support Capitol Riots MORE‘s suspension from Twitter this week.
Gab’s CEO Andrew Torba said the platform saw a 40 percent increase in traffic during the riot that killed five people and resulted in dozens of arrests, according to NPR.
Torba founded the company in 2016 and promoted it as a platform for free speech. Gab is visited by far-right activists, according to Business Insider. The website is similar to Twitter and includes a main feed and an exploration area.
Earlier Saturday, the platform tweeted that, according to Insider, it had gained more than 10,000 users within an hour and received 12 million visits within 12 hours.
The increase in involvement with Gab comes after videos surfaced on the platform of rioters on Wednesday showing them breaking into the Capitol and debating finding Vice President Pence during the security breach, according to a report by The New York Times.
The Times reported that users involved in the violent attack on Capitol Hill communicated with each other about Gab about where to meet and which streets to take to avoid the police.
However, Torba later responded in a statement to the Times report on Wednesday, stating that, “[W]We do not preemptively scan user content for criminal statements, ”said Torba. “Before the Capitol was occupied by protesters, we had no idea what would become of today’s protests in DC”
“The majority of our users use Gab on desktop devices, which obviously are not easy to carry and use during a protest,” said Torba.
Other websites that have seen an increase in traffic since election night in November include Parler, TheDonald and MeWe. These social platforms have minimal content moderation as compared to apps such as Twitter and Facebook.
On Wednesday, a crowd of supporters of President Trump marched to the Capitol to stop the president-elect’s certification Joe Biden
Joe Biden US judge blocks Trump administration restrictions on eligibility for asylumElectoral College win.
The mob breached Capitol security, smashed windows and destroyed lawmakers’ offices. The violation also required lawmakers, media and staff to evacuate both the House and Senate and seek shelter in secret locations.
Supporters of the president mused on various platforms about the possibility of violence in the Capitol in the lead-up to Wednesday’s attacks. Posts on websites like Parler were full of posts about storming the Capitol.
Following Wednesday’s riots, Trump was permanently banned from Twitter after finding that his posts “pose the risk of further incitement to violence.”