Governor Greg Abbott said today that Gab is an anti-Semitic platform and has no place in Texas. Huh? Since when? Honestly, I have never seen any anti-Semitic anything although there could be some anti-Semitic people on the site since it’s a free speech platform. But that doesn’t mean the platform is anti-Semitic. Free speech does mean protecting speech that we even find repugnant.
He called the entire platform anti-Semitic and a lot of conservatives are on it. That’s very insulting and misguided. Even the Texas GOP is on it.
Watch:
Anti-Semitic platforms do not represent Texas values.
Proud to support @PhilKingTX & @GoldmanCraig’s bill to fight anti-Semitism in our communities. #txlege pic.twitter.com/ZVri3z0Wis
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) March 11, 2021
Gab CEO Andrew Torba responded.
Every month 30 million people use Gab’s services to get access to the free flow of information online. Gab is the home of free speech in a world where Big Tech oligarchs have censored, deplatformed, and demonized tens of millions of good, honest, and decent people with whom they disagree politically.
Tonight Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a “Republican,” issued a despicable and false statement smearing Gab as an “anti-semitic platform that quote “has no place in Texas.” This is the same Gov. Abbott who just five days ago said he was “taking a stand against Big Tech censorship.”
Gov. Abbott’s statement will likely not sit well with the nearly 800,000 Texans who have visited Gab.com in the past 24 hours alone. What is even more strange is that the Texas GOP itself is on Gab with a verified account.
Gab is not an “anti-semitic” platform. We protect the political speech of all Americans, regardless of viewpoint, because in this age of cancel culture nobody else will. That means unpopular viewpoints may be found on the site.
The enemies of freedom smear us with every name in the book because they hate America and they hate free speech. It’s a shame to see a GOP politician fall for this trap when conservative values are under sustained attack all over the country.
People smear Gab for the kinds of people we host. They never smear Gab for the kinds of people we ban. That’s because we don’t have political tests for our users. Ban decisions are made on an individual basis. Our test for political speech is whether it is legal or not. Pretty simple rule.
There are many Jewish Gab users and customers, 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.
This is what America used to be like: a place where The People could speak freely regardless of their faith, ethnic background, or beliefs. This is the America Gab is fighting to preserve.
Apparently, Gov. Abbott doesn’t agree.
Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com
March 10th, 2021
Jesus is King
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