The far-right social media platform Gab, known for its numerous neo-Nazi users and antisemitic statements made by its owner Andrew Torba, has blocked all of its Israeli users from accessing it, including entering their pages.
More stories:
Despite several email inquiries from Israelis to Gab's support team following the move, no explanation was provided by the online platform. One user was advised to hide their location using a VPN by Gab’s support team.
The social network is focused on attracting racists, antisemites, conspiracy theorists, and others. The matter has been brought to the attention of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. David Saranga, the ministry’s Head of Digital, said, "I believe that blocking access to Israeli users is intended to reduce criticism against the content present on this platform.
“Since October 7, the network has been rife with conspiracy theories and predominantly hateful statements made against Israel, all sheltered under the definition of 'freedom of speech,'" he added.
Or Lenchner, CEO of Bright Data – a platform used to monitor online data – said, “The website is blocked for Israelis based on the user's IP address. When accessing the site from an American IP address, the site becomes available again. It’s likely the site isn’t accessible to Israelis because it contains antisemitic and neo-Nazi content.”