匹茨堡槍擊案中被控殺害了11個人的嫌疑人使用的社交平臺Gab因為備受爭議被原網絡主機供應商中斷了合作，被迫下線的網站現已重新上線。

Gab一直以來都因為歡迎政治立場極端右傾的用戶而飽受詬病，這些用戶早已被其他社交網絡拋棄。網站在匹茨堡槍擊案發生兩天后被域名服務供應商GoDaddy拋棄，因為媒體爆出嫌疑人羅伯特·鮑爾斯曾使用Gab發表反猶言論。

上周六，域名服務商Epik接納了Gab。Epik的創始人羅伯·曼斯特稱他認為Gab不過是“數字審查”的受害者。

“雖然做出接受Gab進行域名注冊的決定并不容易，我很期待能和這個曾經有點莽撞的年輕CEO合作，因為他有勇氣去做有用的事。”曼斯特在公司網站上發表的一篇文章中寫道。“盡管有些行為造成了一些不好后果，但也有個成語叫因噎廢食。我希望，為了所有人的利益，Gab.com能在經營中慎思明辨，用自由的環境改善大多數人的生活，讓所有人都能有所啟發感悟。”

Godaddy并非唯一一家和Gab斷絕合作關系的公司。支付服務公司Stripe和PayPal、云服務供應商Joyent也停止向Gab提供服務。蘋果和谷歌在此之前就已經將Gab從應用商店中下架。今年夏天，微軟曾因Gab上有人發表反猶言論，警告Gab將停止其網絡托管服務。

批評者認為，Gab不像Facebook或推特，不用做廣告賺錢，簡直是種族主義者的避風港。Gab堅稱這是曲解。

“對于全人類和自由的愛是我們所擁有的一切。我們一直說，暴力與我們無關。言論自由對于預防暴力至關重要。如果人們可以通過語言自由表達，他們就不會再用暴力進行發泄。”這是Gab在槍擊案發生后在Medium上發表的內容，現在已被刪除。

然而，公司回歸后在社交媒體中上發表的言論仍然毫不拐彎抹角。

我們對媒體發布的新聞稿如下：

你們輸了。我們重新上線了。我們更強大了。https://t.co/J3Rfto6fi3上言論自由永存。這只是開始。希望上帝能寬恕你們過去一周中所做的一切。為和平和愛祈禱。

— Gab.com(@getongab) 2018年11月5日

Gab說他們政治中立，追求言論自由，雖然Gab最近的聲明和一些媒體產生了直接沖突，而新聞報道的自由也是憲法第一修正案的組成內容。Gab已經籌集了超過100萬美元資金，2017年維吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾白人至上主義者集會上出現死亡事件后，Gab加大了籌資力度。

Gab的用戶包括許多所謂的另類右翼，例如米洛·伊安諾波利斯和安德魯·安格林，前者曾是右翼新聞網站布賴特巴特（Breitbart）的作者，2016年因煽動人們騷擾被禁用推特，后者是新納粹網站The Daily Stormer的創始人，該網站因為去年各家網絡公司中止其域名注冊服務實際上已處于關閉狀態。（財富中文網）

譯者：Agatha

Gab, the controversial social network used by the man accused of killing 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue, is back online after its original Web hosting provider cut ties with the company.

Gab, which has been criticized for welcoming users with far-right political leanings who were banned from other social networks, was dropped by GoDaddy two days after the shooting, when it was revealed suspect Robert Bowers used the service to post anti-Semitic messages.

That changed on last Saturday when domain service Epik welcomed Gab. Epik’s founder, Rob Monster, said he believed the site was a victim of “digital censorship.”

“Although I did not take the decision lightly to accept this domain registration, I look forward to partnering with a young, and once brash, CEO who is courageously doing something that looks useful.” Monster wrote in an essay published to his company’s website. “While there are consequences to actions, there is also the proverbial risk of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. My hope, for all of our sakes, is that Gab.com treads wisely, using its liberty for the betterment of most, and the enlightenment of all.”

Godaddy was hardly the only company to cut ties with Gab. Payment processors Stripe and PayPal and cloud hosting company Joyent also suspended the network. Apple and Google had already prevented Gab from distributing its app in their app stores. Microsoft had threatened to stop hosting Gab’s website over anti-Semitic posts this summer.

Critics argue the site, which unlike Facebook or Twitter does not use advertisements to make money, is a haven for racists. Gab insists that’s a mischaracterization.

“We have nothing but love for all people and freedom. We have consistently disavowed all violence. Free speech is crucial for the prevention of violence. If people can not express themselves through words, they will do so through violence.” Gab wrote in a now-deleted Medium post after the shooting.

The company, however, did not mince words in social media posts published after its return.

Here is our press release to the media:

You failed. We are back online. We grow stronger by the hour. Free speech lives at https://t.co/J3Rfto6fi3. This is only the beginning. May God have mercy on you for what you people have done this past week. Peace, love, and prayers.

— Gab.com(@getongab) November 5, 2018

Gab says it is politically neutral and committed to free speech, even if its recent statements put it squarely at odds with members of the press, whose own freedoms share space in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Gab has raised more than $1 million in funding; it ramped up fundraising efforts after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. in 2017.

Gab’s users include many figures of the so-called alt-right, such as Milo Yiannopolous, the former Breitbart writer who was banned from Twitter in 2016 for inciting harassment, and Andrew Anglin, founder of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, which was effectively shut down last year when web companies suspended its domain registration.