Andrew Torba, CEO of the social network Gab has claimed hundreds of thousands of people have been joining the app every day since the shutdown of Parler. According to a screenshot posted on Gab's official Twitter account, roughly the population of Boston (around 700,000 people) are joining Gab "every 24 hours". In a separate statement posted on Gab, Torba blasted Big Tech for ditching Parler.
"If your business is built on the backs of Silicon Valley tyrants (Apple, Google, et al) they can and will attempt to destroy you if and when you become a threat to their interests. They did this to Gab. Then Fortnite. Now Parler", Torba wrote.
The CEO of Gab emphasised that "terrible content of all kinds" is available on Facebook and Twitter, however, companies continue doing business with these social networks and they are available in application stores.
Why Did Big Tech Ban Parler?
The application, which like Gab, claims to champion free speech, came under scrutiny following the storming of the Capitol, which left five people dead. Reports say that protesters coordinated their actions via Parler. The suspension of Parler from web services effectively made the application unavailable. The company's CEO John Matze said it may take up to a week for Parler to become available again as it seeks a new host.
The suspension of Parler occurred after Twitter permanently banned US President Donald Trump "due to the risk of further incitement of violence".
The company first froze the president's account for 12 hours after he called people who besieged the Capitol "patriots". After that, Twitter said Trump would be permanently banned from the platform if he violates the company's rules again. The Republican posted several tweets, which Twitter said did not follow the rules.
"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in his account being removed from the platform", the company said in a statement.