What is Gab and why are Mastriano’s foes blasting him for using it? – Olean Times Herald

HARRISBURG (TNS) Democratic candidate for governor Josh Shapiros campaign narrative that his Republican foeDoug Mastrianois too extreme forPennsylvaniahas added a new count in the past week: Guilt by association.

Specifically, Shapiro and his surrogates are trying to draw state and national attention to Mastrianos use of the social media platform Gab as a voter outreach tool during the Republican primary.

Shapiro toldMSNBChost Rachel Maddow Monday night its the kind of association that should be a blinking red light to allPennsylvaniavoters.

This site, this Gab site, is a haven for white supremacy, Shapiro said. And yet this is whereDoug Mastrianobelieves he needs to go for support, for recruits to his campaign."

Gab is seen by some as a lastbastion of unfettered free speech on an Internet increasingly controlled by highly censorious Big Tech;to others, it has become a safe haven for hate speech.

A 2018 academic paper found that the site appears to be positioned at the border of mainstream social networks like Twitter and fringe Web communities like 4chans /pol/, and that its pro-free speech policies have in fact created a shield behind which some neo-Nazi and other alt-right groups recruit.

The study reported about 5.4% of its posts contained hate words, about twice the rate on Twitter, but less than half that on 4chans Politically Incorrect board.

LIGHTNING ROD

Gab is a particular lightning rod for many in the Jewish community because the shooter in the 2018 massacre at aPittsburghsynagogue had posted an anti-Jewish screed on the site in one of his last acts before committing the crimes. That shooting is said to be the deadliest attack on Jews in the history ofthe United States.

Not only that, but Gabs founder andLackawanna CountyresidentAndrew Torbahas openly and frequently called for a Christian-led takeback of American culture that does appear to advocate shutting Jews and others out of leadership positions.

A group of Jewish leaders amplified Shapiros concern about Mastrianos association with Torba, who has endorsed him in the governors race, inPhiladelphia Wednesday.

What really disturbs me is the regular, normal people who areRepublicans... who havent just screamed in horror and said: This is not myRepublican Party, saidBurt Siegel, a former director of theJewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia. You can be a staunch Republican. You can agree with theRepublican Partyabout any number of things... But there is someone running for governor of this state who has neither the emotional, the intellectual or the moral qualifications to be governor.

These particular alarm bells in the governors race were first triggered by news reports earlier this month that Mastrianos campaign paid $5,000 during the Republican primary campaign for ad placement on Gab, which markets itself as an alternative platform to sites like Facebook that some political conservatives perceive is more likely to muzzle their content.

The ad buy was first reported byMedia Matters, a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring and correcting what it sees as conservative misinformationin American media.

PennLive reached out to Gab for a response to the criticisms Wednesday, and particulars of the Mastriano buy. The person who answered a texted query said: Sorry we only speak to Christian news organizations. Have a good day.

'NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS'

In a follow-up message, the Gab respondent said Particulars of the buy are none of your business, and then went on to steer the reporter to similar problems with some of the extreme content on Twitter and Facebook including incidents wheregunmen tried to livestream mass shootings in progress.

PennLive also asked Mastriano what he felt the benefit to his campaign was in using Gabs services, whether he feels he can reach people there that hed never reach on Facebook or Twitter, and how he balances any gains with concerns others would have with sentiments expressed by Torba like This is a Christian movement. Full stop, We dont want people who are atheists. We dont want people who are Jewish.

Mastriano and his campaign did not respond.

As has often been the case throughout his campaign, however, he did respond to the controversy in an interviewposted to his campaign Web page Tuesday evening.

There, Mastriano told interviewerChris Wyattit was a one-time buy, and there are no signs of further payments to Gab on his post-primary campaign finance report.

TheFranklin CountyRepublican state senator then noted that theAnti-Defamation Leaguehas documented millions of anti-Semitic comments on Twitter, and he posited that perhaps Shapiro should get off Twitter. Its all about the Great Suppression, Mastriano continued, adding he believes that Shapiro and his allies are using the Gab issue to further demonize his campaign and stop campaign contributions.

Yes, I have a lot of strong personal views, Mastriano said. I never imposed them on my soldiers and they will never be imposed on other people. What I do believe in... is for the right of people to live their lives as they see fit.

Torba, meanwhile,posted a sharp response to the Maddow shows segment on Gab Tuesday.

We have seen the fruits or lack thereof of our nation being led by Godless pagans, nonbelievers, Jews, and fake Christians-in-name-only, Torba wrote in part. Now it is time for our nation to be led by wise Christian warriors who fear God, read their Bible, and will not bend the knee to the wicked Establishment class.

2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visitpennlive.com. Distributed byTribune Content Agency, LLC.

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What is Gab and why are Mastriano's foes blasting him for using it? - Olean Times Herald