A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing of credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per-article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
Detailed Report
Questionable Reasoning: Propaganda, Conspiracies, Pseudoscience, Poor Sourcing, Failed Fact Checks, Lack of Transparency, Hate
Bias Rating: EXTREME RIGHT
Factual Reporting: LOW
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in 2016 by Andrew Torba and a Turkey-based developer Ekrem Buyukkaya Gab, GAB is a social media platform similar to Twitter and Reddit based in Pennsylvania. GAB News (news.gab.com) is the news arm of GAB.
Gab describes its platform as “A social network that champions free speech, individual liberty, and the free flow of information online. All are welcome.”
Gab claims its main priority is freedom of speech. GAB states its values are grounded in the Christian faith in Jesus Christ, but they welcome those from all religious backgrounds. However, Gab is often referred to as “a haven for hate and disinformation,” “home for antisemitic speech,” and a “haven” for white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
In 2018, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting brought new attention to Gab as it received millions of hits per hour due to the shooters’ posts on their platform.
Further, after the January 6 Capitol Riot, Twitter and Facebook suspended former president Donald Trump and other prominent conservatives, resulting in GAB reporting an increase in their users.
As of 2022, according to Vice, traffic to GAB “has been steadily declining throughout 2022—which could in part be due to Trump launching his own social media platform, “Truth Social,” despite Andrew Torba’s “newfound religious outlook.”
Read our profile on the United States media and government.
Funded by / Ownership
GAB lacks transparency as they do not disclose ownership; however, Andrew Torba is the founder and CEO. According to Andrew Torba, “GAB has been no-platformed and banned by 25+ service providers over the years including both App Stores, payment processors, hosting providers, and even VISA.” Therefore GAB built its own “in-house infrastructure” with revenue derived through advertising, subscriptions, donations, and campaign consulting fees, such as Pennsylvania Republican Doug Mastriano, who paid GAB $5000.
Analysis / Bias
In analysis, GAB publishes articles with emotionally loaded language, such as “Musk Is In Over His Head.” A quote from the article reads, “Given Elon’s Reddit-tier political takes and patchy soy beard, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find out that he is low on the testosterone side. But I digress.”
According to a Stanford University report, they found that GAB content is “Extreme anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic content is rife, with open praise of Nazism, encouragement of violence against minorities, and “Great Replacement” narratives.”
Editorially, GAB identifies with the extreme right by endorsing Christian Nationalism. The website has a category that only reports on Christian Nationalism. For example, a quote from the article Against Christian Globalism reads, “But today, he sent out a short email that denounced Christian Nationalism. To say I disagree with his take is an understatement. And given the respect, I have for him it is absolutely necessary to offer him a rebuttal, breaking his argument down line by line.”
The website frequently promotes conspiracy theories and makes false claims such as this regarding election fraud in the 2020 election The Big List of Voter Fraud News And What Can Be Done To #StopTheSteal. There is no evidence of widespread election fraud or that the election was stolen. They also make false claims regarding Covid-19 vaccines like this Gab Welcomes Pushback Against Experimental Vaccines. This story is sourced from an anti-vaccine advocacy group. According to fact checkers, the Covid Vaccine is not experimental. Finally, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, GAB is a “social media network that serves as an organizing hub for white supremacists.”
GAB News generally holds extreme right views and frequently promotes false or misleading information.
Failed Fact Checks
Overall, we rate GAB News as extreme right biased and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracies, propaganda, pseudoscience, a lack of transparency, poor sourcing, and third-party labeling as a hate group. (M. Huitsing 12/25/2022)
Source: https://news.gab.com/
Last Updated on May 24, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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