Gab CEO Andrew Torba has released a statement as a response to the allegations of anti-Semitism and racism brought about by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The squabble began on Tuesday, when GOP Vice-chair Cat Parks called on the party to delete its Gab account. Gab is well-known as a "free-speech" platform that is not held back by Big Tech restrictions, attracting many of former President Trump's supporters, Republican lawmakers, and supporters of the GOP.
In a shocking turn of events, Republican Gov. Abbott, who has an account on the platform, supported Parks' call to delete the GOP Gab account.
According to the Texas Tribune, Parks condemned Gab as "not a viable or healthy outlet for RPT to share our message of opportunity, liberty and personal empowerment." Much to the surprise of many, Gov. Abbott took to Twitter to share a video of himself and Republican Representatives Craig Goldman of Fort Worth and Phil King of Weatherford.
In the video, the Texas governor said, "Anti-Semitic platforms like Gab have no place in Texas and certainly do not represent Texas values. What does represent Texas values is legislation like this by Rep. King and Rep. Goldman that fights anti-Semitism in Texas."
However, it was unclear what exact legislation Gov. Abbott was referring to, or what substantial proof he had looked into before deciding to condemn Gab as "anti-semitic."
Gab CEO Andrew Torba has responded to the allegations from the Texas governor through a statement that pointedly shows how the Texas GOP itself has a verified Gab account. Torba also pointed out how the legislator behind the "despicable and false statement smearing Gab as an 'anti-semitic' platform" is the same governor who took a stand against Big Tech censorship just a few days ago.
According to FOX News, the Texas governor was at a press conference in Tyler on Friday where he confirmed his support of the Senate Bill 12, which objective is to prevent social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter from censoring conservative users.
He said during the press conference, "Texas is taking a stand against Big Tech political censorship. The United States of America was built upon free speech and healthy public debate. Big Tech's efforts to silence conservative viewpoints is un-American, un-Texan and is unacceptable."
Gab CEO Andrew Torba took aim at the Texas governor for seemingly appearing hypocritical especially after last Friday's statements. He argued that Gab is "not an 'anti-semitic' platform" and that its goal is to "protect the political speech of all Americans, regardless of viewpoint, because in this age of cancel culture nobody else will."
Torba added that because they allow free speech, many "unpopular viewpoints may be found on the site." He also called out the Texas governor and the Republican lawmakers for falling into the trap that the "enemies of freedom" have made for them, especially during a time when "conservative values are under sustained attack all over the country."
Torba reiterated that the platform does not have "political tests" for their millions of users. Instead, "Ban decisions are made on an individual basis. Our test for political speech is whether it is legal or not. Pretty simple rule."
The Gab CEO also revealed that there are a lot of Jewish users on the site, "whose lawful speech we protect with just as much zeal as we would protect the lawful speech of any person of any faith, ethnicity, or creed."
Gov. Abbott has yet to respond to the Gab CEO's arguments.
