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Gab Dissenter

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For other uses, see Dissenter (disambiguation).
Gab Dissenter
Original author(s)Andrew Torba and Ekrem Büyükkaya
Developer(s)Gab
Initial releaseFebruary 24, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-02-24)[1]
TypeSocial news, social network aggregation, and discussion forum
Websitewww.dissenter.com

Gab Dissenter (or simply Dissenter) is a social news aggregation and discussion service developed by the creators of Gab,[2] a social network website known for its mainly far-right user base.[3][4][5] Dissenter was created to allow commenting on any Web page in an associated third-party forum outside of the site owner's control.[2] The platform includes a website and a browser extension.[2][6]

Dissenter was developed as a response to multiple social media platforms' and online news sites' moderation practices, which involve removal of individual comments or deleting or disabling comment sections altogether.[2]

Features

Users with registered Gab accounts may submit content to Dissenter in the form of a URL to a page on which they want to comment. This creates a discussion page where users can post a comment (or "Dissent"), and the comments can be up- or down-voted by other users of the site.[2] By using the Dissenter browser extension, users may read and post comments in an overlay while viewing page content. The Dissenter website also features a news ticker on which users can follow current events.[6]

History

Dissenter was released in February 2019, describing itself as "a free, open-source utility that allows people to dissent from orthodoxy and express what they are really thinking, without fear of reprisal".[7]

Readers of Tommy Robinson began using the extension to comment on a BBC article about Robinson's ban from social media websites following the removal of Mohammed's Koran, by Robinson and Peter McLoughlin, from Amazon Books.[8][9]

Source code for the browser extension has been made available under the Apache 2.0 license.[10]

Reception

The Financial Times noted that "there is a clear demand for this sort of freedom... with the potential to completely disrupt conventional media's control of its comment real estate."[11]

The Daily Dot alleged an association with Gab's far-right and alt-right user base, and common occurrence of racial slurs, homophobic comments, and insults against journalists.[12]

References

  1. ^ "WHOIS". WHOIS. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  2. ^ a b c d e Carson, Erin (February 27, 2019). "Gab wants to add a comments section to everything on the internet". CNET. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  3. ^ Hess, Amanda (November 30, 2016). "The Far Right Has a New Digital Safe Space". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  4. ^ Robertson, Adi (September 6, 2017). "Far-right friendly social network Gab is facing censorship controversy". Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Feeling Sidelined By Mainstream Social Media, Far-Right Users Jump To Gab". NPR.org. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Gilbert, David (2019-02-27). "Users of far-right social network Gab can now comment on the entire internet". Vice News. Retrieved 2019-02-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ "Press release for Dissenter.com". Twitter. 2019-02-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ "Amazon stops selling Tommy Robinson's book on Islam the day after he was booted off Facebook and Instagram – but he can still broadcast on YouTube". The Sun. 2019-02-28. (also see [http://brianoflondon.me/2019/02/breaking-tommy-robinson-news-book-burning-begins/ co-author's comment)
  9. ^ Joe Roberts (27 Feb 2019). "Tommy Robinson fans find new way to get round Facebook and Twitter bans". Metro.
  10. ^ "gab-dissenter-extension". Github. Retrieved February 28, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. ^ Kaminska, Izabella (3-1-2019). "Introducing the Shadow Comment Sector". The Financial Times. Retrieved 3-1-2019. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Meet 'Dissenter': A far-right 'comment section' for hating on journalists". The Daily Dot. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
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