The prime suspect in the recent Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue shooting, Robert Bowers, has been using Gab, a fast-growing social network popular among Trump supporters, to voice anti-Semitic hate speeches.

In light of this information, PayPal has banned the site from its payment platform.

In a statement to The Verge, a PayPal spokesperson confirmed the ban, citing hate speech as the reason for the decision: “The company is diligent in performing reviews and taking account actions. When a site is explicitly allowing the perpetuation of hate, violence or discriminatory intolerance, we take immediate and decisive action.”

After Bowers identity was made known to the public, screenshots of his Gab profile revealed a series of anti-Semitic rants. In response, Gab released a statement on Medium disavowing and condemning “all acts of terrorism and violence”.

The network says it contacted law enforcement officials as soon as it was notified that Bowers had a profile on the site, and turned over relevant information to police before suspending his account. However, many have accused the site of being a haven to purveyors of hate speech and threats.

Tech Groups Step Away from Gab

PayPal now joins the ranks of other tech giants such as Apple and Google who have refused to cooperate with Gab. Apple has refused to host the site’s app in its iOS store, and in August 2017, Google removed the Gab app from the Google Play store, for violating the company’s hate speech policy.

Similarly, Microsoft threatened to stop hosting the site after a pair of anti-Semitic posts were published on the site in July of this year. Now that PayPal has also given Gab the boot, the network has been deprived of a major revenue conduit and it seems likely other internet companies follow suit.

GoDaddy is the latest firm to pull away, citing Gab’s inflammatory content as the reason. It has told the network to find another domain registrar not affiliated with GoDaddy. Currently, Gab’s site is down while it transitions to another provider.

On its site Gab claims it is the victim: “We have been systematically no-platformed by App Stores, multiple hosting providers, and several payment processors. We have been smeared by the mainstream media for defending free expression and individual liberty for all people and for working with law enforcement to ensure that justice is served for the horrible atrocity committed in Pittsburgh. Gab will continue to fight for the fundamental human right to speak freely.”

Since PayPal’s decision, Gab’s Twitter account has struck out at Facebook, Twitter, GoDaddy, Stripe, Joyent and PayPal claiming that these tech companies are penalising it in particular, and dismissed the idea that rhetoric on its platform translates into real-world violence. But researchers say that anti-Semitic hate speech on social media is on the rise and in light of the recent attempted bombing of prominent Trump critics has raised the question of the role that online rhetoric has played over the past months.

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