Earlier this week, CryptoGlobe reported that the controversial, censorship-free social media platform Gab was cut off from Coinbase without explanation.
Gab has had a series of challenging months, as a result of hateful content that they refuse to moderate on their website. Gab has become somewhat of a safe haven for people with extreme views who have been banned from more mainstream social media sites, but supporters say that that there must be some places on the internet that have zero moderation in order to preserve free expression and freedom of speech.
In October, Gab was dropped by Stripe and multiple web hosts after a mass shooter posted on the site before his attack. He posted on Facebook and Twitter also, but those sites did not receive any penalties.
Next, Gab turned to cryptocurrency for its censorship-resistant properties, but the company soon learned that these features are only guaranteed to users who hold the private keys to their wallets, and that these features are often forfeited when crypto is held on custodial services.
Without giving a reason, Coinbase closed the official account for the site, as well as the account of Gab’s co-founder Andrew Torba. In a post on Twitter after receiving news of the ban, Gab made a post on Twitter saying that “decentralized exchanges are the future,” because crypto on/off ramps are very easily compromised.
Possible Alternatves
Gab seems to have moved onto Square’s Cash App, according to a post made on Twitter this week.
Free at last pic.twitter.com/6rUBYtVF6Z
— Gab.com (@getongab) January 6, 2019
However, Square is also a centralized company, which means that Gab could encounter the same problems again, especially if Square comes under enough pressure from the public and the rest of the industry.
New platforms are in development to serve users who might experience censorship, specifically activists and journalists. As CryptoGlobe reported, newscaster Ben Swann announced a new blockchain-based journalism project called Isegoria, which hopes to give a voice to some of the reporters who have been disenfranchised by the dominant social media websites.
