A platform dedicated to protecting free speech in online spaces and encourages free interactions in the internet has reported seeing a massive jump in traffic since Big Tech companies clamped down on Conservatives starting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Gab, a social network committed to "free speech, individual liberty and the new free flow of information online," states that they have seen a 750 percent spike in their website's traffic.
The free speech platform gets about 10,000 new users per hour, reports Business Insider.
This could be attributed to the banning of President Trump by several social media platforms and the urging of high profile people for users to consider other platforms that are more hospitable to the exercise of free speech.
"Our traffic is up 753% in the past 24 hours. Tens of millions of visits," said Gab. The rise, however, also slowed down the network's loading speed.
To address the issue, Gab announced that they would activate ten new servers which could handle huge traffic volume.
Consequently, Twitter experienced a 3.77% decline in their shares hours after the suspension of President Trump's account with over 88 million followers, Fox Business News reported.
Gab: What's In It for Us?
Unbeknownst to many, Gab was actually the first alternative network to Twitter. It's commitment to freedom of speech prompts it to allow all forms of legal contents except those that promote lasciviousness. They also give their users control over what they see or read through their custom blocks and filters.
Gab would also take action against illegal contents and against threats or harassments. Users are encouraged to report them for immediate removal.
Nonetheless, the Gab app is not welcome in Apple and Google app stores. This has been ongoing for years. Today, Parler was also ousted.
Gab was launched in May 2017. After experiencing numerous attempts of censorship and repressions from all sides, Gab set out to self-innovate in order to get around easily.
Rather than depending on cloud hosting companies which could, at any time, flag their contents, Gab decided to have its own servers. A Gab phone may also be something to look forward to in the near future as it's in the process of development. This is also the network's initiative to address app stores' censorship.
Gab also launched a browser extension called Dissenter followed by a web browser bearing the same name. The recent innovation was due to Chrome and Mozilla blocking the extension probably because of some unfiltered hateful remarks seen in the comment section, a special feature of Dissenter.
As of April 2020, Gab's annual report for SEC stated that the site had over 1.1 million new cumulative registered accounts and 3.7 million monthly visitors worldwide.
Like It Or Not, This Will Be the New Trend
When asked about the effect of the surge of traffic in their platforms, Gab founder and CEO Andrew Torba gave a succinct response.
"Checkmate, Silicon Valley," he told Breitbart News.
Torba also posted on his Twitter account.
"The Silicon Valley Exodus has begun. Get in the Ark...The best is yet to come," he wrote.
Torba has 223,000 followers on Twitter. He founded Gab in 2016 because he felt that restrictions are being placed over conservative views and others as opposed to the liberals'.
Gab also said this during SEC filing,
"As mainstream social networks continue to crack down on 'objectionable content' and censor conservative views, we believe the need for alternative platforms will only continue to rise."
