Tech giant Apple banned the developer account of free speech-focused social media network Gab, preventing the company from creating apps for iPhones and other Apple devices, shortly after the startup submitted a complaint to the Department of Justice about Big Tech’s anti-competitie business practices.
Breitbart News spoke with the CEO of Gab.com, Andrew Torba, about the company’s recent developments. As Torba wrote on Twitter, the free speech social media platform recently submitted a complaint to the DOJ which it hopes will spark an investigation into the business practices of the Masters of the Universe in Silicon Valley. Gab aimed to question if these firms were acting in a deliberately anti-competitive manner against smaller “alt-tech” businesses, and Apple’s recent actions may have proven Gab’s point.
The Gab.com Twitter page made a number of tweets explaining the company’s viewpoint, these can be seen below:
BREAKING: Gab's attorneys have submitted a complaint to the Department of Justice in hopes of sparking a serious investigation into Big Tech's business practices to determine if, and how, they are behaving in a deliberately anti-competitive manner against alt-tech businesses.
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 6, 2019
It’s not just us. This is what happens when you try to post a link to @Minds on its main rival, Facebook. pic.twitter.com/XagmbbyVNn
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 6, 2019
Coordinated deplatforming, when done in such a way as to limit competition in the free market, is illegal. Based on our experience, we believe Silicon Valley companies are colluding to exclude challengers to existing social media companies.
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 6, 2019
Big Tech understands that curated walled gardens lose their vibrancy and fail, much as Compuserve and AOL failed.
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 6, 2019
We hope the DOJ will mount a vigorous and thorough investigation into this matter. In particular the duopoly on mobile app distribution that Apple/Google have with 98% marketshare.
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 6, 2019
Shortly after this thread of tweets, Gab found that its new Dissenter Web Browser had been rejected from Apple’s app store. Apple also chose to ban the firm’s developer account entirely, citing “objectionable content,” as the reason. Gab’s Dissenter browser is a web browser that only delivers content that users purposefully visited, like Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari browser, yet Apple believes that the app falls under it’s “objectionable content” label.
BREAKING: Gab’s Dissenter Web Browser was rejected by Apple today. Furthermore, we were banned from our App Store developer account for “objectionable content.” For a web browser.
We have filed this information with the Department of Justice and urge them to investigate. pic.twitter.com/raw8u3cgX2
— Gab.com (@getongab) June 10, 2019
Gab CEO Andrew Torba told Breitbart News that Apple admitted that the app itself did not break the company’s terms of service but rather they were banning it because it was built by Gab. The company has since reported this additional info to the Department of Justice. In a statement, Torba told Breitbart News:
Coordinated deplatforming, when done in such a way as to limit competition in the free market, is illegal. Based on our experience, we believe Silicon Valley companies are colluding to exclude challengers to existing social media companies. Big Tech understands that curated walled gardens lose their vibrancy and fail, much as Compuserve and AOL failed.
Gab is focused on giving The People back their digital sovereignty. We are no longer simply building a free speech social network. We are building the free speech internet. Our free speech web browser, Dissenter, is only the beginning. We will be releasing a full product line of open source free speech software that is decentralized, built, and controlled by The People.
While Gab’s web browser, Dissenter, may not be available in the app store, it can still be downloaded for desktop users here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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