(JTA) — Gab, the social media site frequented by the suspect in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and other far-rightists, is back on the internet.
The site returned Sunday after being taken down by technology providers following the attack that killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue. The suspect, Robert Bowers, used the site to rail against Jews and immigrants.
Experts say Gab, which was created two years ago as a haven for those on the extreme right, is rife with hateful speech and that threats of violence are sometimes not removed despite being reported.
Gab was able to return online with the help of the delivery network company Cloudflare and domain registrar Epik, Wired reported.
Cloudflare previously hosted the Daily Stormer, but kicked off the neo-Nazi site after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginian, last year turned deadly. CEO Matthew Prince later said he regretted kicking off the site.
“Literally, I woke up in a bad mood and decided someone shouldn’t be allowed on the internet,” Prince wrote in a staff memo last year. “No one should have that power.”
Epik CEO Robert Monster defended providing services to Gab in a blog post on its site.
“De-platforming a haven of free speech is not about left or right,” Monster wrote. “Anyone who remembers studying civics is familiar with the concept of inalienable rights — rights that a worthy government can only protect but would have no moral authority to take away.”
RELATED:
What is Gab and where else are anti-Semites gathering on the internet?
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
