EXTREMISMAntisemitism Disseminated Across Social Media Platforms

Gab CEO Andrew Torba claims he’s not an antisemite, but he tells a very different story via Gab’s Twitter feed and his personal Gab account. In October 2021, Torba engaged in multiple antisemitic tirades on Twitter and Gab, posting and sharing a wide array of bigoted content. These posts – which had the potential to reach millions of people via Gab’s 390,000 Twitter followers and Torba’s 3.3 million Gab followers – promoted a range of antisemitic tropes, such as Jews having dual loyalty to the U.S. and Israel, that Jews are to blame for the crucifixion of Jesus and that Jews control the U.S. government.

Gab, a self-described “free speech” platform, has a long history as a haven for antisemites, extremists and conspiracy theorists. Robert Bowers, the white supremacist who murdered 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, made numerous antisemitic posts on his Gab account in the weeks prior to the shooting. Three years later, antisemitic content persists on the platform, easily accessible within just a few clicks. Well-known antisemites like David Duke, Rick Wiles and Nicholas Fuentes maintain an active presence on the site.

Gab’s Twitter account was deactivated shortly after Torba’s antisemitic tirade in mid-October 2021; it was later reactivated around the end of November 2021. While it is not known why the account was taken down, Torba has deactivated Gab’s Twitter account several times before and frequently deletes tweets. Torba’s increasing antisemitism and toxic posts demonstrate not only his dedication to enabling hate on Gab, but also to amplifying it on mainstream platforms like Twitter.

In an effort to track Twitter links out to Gab – and other potentially hateful platforms – ADL’s Center on Extremism has created a bot, which provides daily counts of these links. To see the bot in action, visit: https://twitter.com/AdlBot

Antisemitism on Twitter
In October 2021, Torba, via Gab’s verified Twitter account, shared a variety of antisemitic tweets and memes. These tweets were retweeted, liked and replied to hundreds of times.

In a series of tweets on Oct. 19, the Gab account shared antisemitic tropes about “Judeo-Bolshevism” while promoting the creation of a “parallel Christian society.” Judeo-Bolshevism is a term used to refer to the belief that the Russian Revolution in 1917 was part of a Jewish plot to enslave the world. In the 1930s, Germany’s Nazi Party used the term to promote the conspiracy theory that Jews were responsible for communism.

Following criticism of his remarks, Torba doubled down, defending his