Last Updated on November 13, 2020
Despite being the most censored and persecuted alternative tech platform in the Western Hemisphere, Gab is exploding in popularity post-election as users flee the aggressively anti-consumer corporate echo chambers of Facebook and Twitter in massive droves.
Founded in 2016 by Christian technology entrepreneur Andrew Torba, Gab has been repeatedly dogged by censorship from Silicon Valley that often extends beyond the website itself, and into the personal lives of its staff.
“As a result of our free speech principles, Gab has been no-platformed and banned by 25+ service providers over the years including both App Stores, multiple payment processors, hosting providers, and more,” Torba wrote in a blog post this week.
Despite the numerous attempts to take Gab offline and render it inaccessible to the average person, the site has experienced a massive spike in user signups and raw traffic in recent weeks.
“This week was Gab’s best performing week in our four year history,” Torba wrote Tuesday. “To give you an idea of just how fast we are growing: Gab was visited 7.7 million times in all of October (up 99% from September,) but this past week alone we’ve seen 7.15 million visits and growing.”
Gab’s success is all the more impressive when one considers the fact that the platform receives virtually no endorsements or shoutouts from the same public figures and media enterprises that often rail against tech censorship. Aside from appearances by Torba on The Alex Jones Show and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, conservative media has largely frozen Gab out of the national discussion when it comes to so-called “alt-tech” initiatives.
Despite this, Torba stated in the blog post that “Gab is well on track to do over 50 million page views for the month of November, which would place us well ahead of Newsmax, the Washington Examiner, and the Bongino Report.”
“At our current rate of growth, Gab is set to pass The Daily Beast, TMZ, ABCNEWS, and the Wall Street Journal by Q2 2021 or sooner,” Torba added. “This is a big deal. Gab is a sleeping new media giant that is only now beginning to awaken. We are the tip of the spear for a new people-powered form of media.”
Big Tech’s decision to declare digital war on the 71 million American voters who cast ballots for President Donald Trump in 2020, coupled with Legislative and Executive Branch inaction on tech censorship, has resulted in explosive user gains for multiple alternative tech platforms over the past few weeks.