Gab’s Hosting Provider Moves to Shut Down the Alt-Right Social Network

In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the social media network Gab—where suspected attacker Robert Bowers posted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories—announced that its new hosting provider had pulled its services. Late Saturday night, hours after Paypal had kicked Gab off its own platform, Gab’s Twitter account announced that hosting provider Joyent was also dropping the network over a breach of terms of service. “Gab will likely be down for weeks because of this. Working on solutions,” one tweet said. The network catered to right-wing extremists and in the days leading up to the attack, Bowers posted neo-Nazi conspiracies on Gab. Just before the shooting, he sent a final, ominous post to the site: “Screw your optics, I’m going in.” In a statement on Saturday, Gab condemned “all acts of terrorism and violence” and said it had removed Bowers’ account and was cooperating with authorities. At the same time, it celebrated its newfound infamy, posting that it had received a million hits per hour after the attack. After tweeting the news about Joyent, Gab vowed, "Big tech cannot stop us. The mainstream media cannot stop us."