Last Updated on February 12, 2022
Amid an apparent exodus from Twitter following the permanent ban of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Gab CEO Andrew Torba has revealed new analytics about the alt tech website, including how many politicians have adopted it in the last year.
In a post written to his blog, Torba described Gab as a “sleeping giant” that has grown repeatedly despite frenzied attempts to halt the website’s growth that include media smears and hacking attempts.
“Gab is a sleeping giant that is about to awaken,” wrote Torba. “Every month tens of millions of people use Gab to get access to information, people, and news that they can’t get anywhere else.”
He added that “Gab is about to become one of the top 1,000 websites on the entire internet,” and provided the third-party analytics to prove it. “And our growth doesn’t show any signs of stopping.”
Torba later noted that the website now boasts more than 50 candidates.
“Gab is set to dramatically impact the 2022 election in a big way,” he wrote. “To my knowledge we have over 50 candidates from around the country running for office.”
“By this time next year the new Congress is set to be the Gab Congress and no one even realizes it yet, but they will soon.”
Conservative politicians, including active members of the House of Representatives, made headlines when joining the platform last year.
Reps. Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene were among the high profile elected Republicans to join.
Among candidates are two of the men challenging Greg Abbott for the Republican nomination to become the Governor of Texas: Allen West and Don Huffines.
Election integrity advocates, including Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, also make frequent use of the platform.
Jarome Bell, a candidate for U.S. House in Virginia’s 2nd District, raised eyebrows in his district when he joined the platform. Recently, Bell was permanently banned from Twitter for posting a viral news clip about COVID-19, but remains active on Gab.
Greene’s use of the platform was finally noticed last year, when the American Jewish Congress – an entity that opposes the Republican Party and Greene – revealed that she she raised up to $3.2 million using Gab in the first three months of 2021.
“Greene raised these funds by pandering to extremists on Gab,” AJC declared, adding that this revelation represents a “gathering threat to our democracy.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene is using a white supremacist, antisemitic platform to build an extremist political base.
Her fundraising haul demonstrates that it has financial power behind it & she's building influence.
This is a warning shot for our democracy.https://t.co/VJXHZiSyJN
— American Jewish Congress (@AJCongress) April 7, 2021
For his part, Torba does not seem concerned.
“This is the year that the tide turns and people say enough is enough,” he wrote. “100% of our growth is powered by word of mouth and has been for five years now.”
“We are only just getting started and I can’t wait to continue building the parallel economy to defend free speech and preserve our humanity with you all.”