The founder of American free speech platform Gab has accused social media companies of handing over user data to governments.
Gab CEO Andrew Torba made the statement in response to a video of British police arresting a woman for allegedly taking part in anti- immigration protests in Sunderland on Friday.
The video showed a female officer banging on the door of a home before a bald male cop smashed through the glass with his foot. A woman was then seen being dragged out in handcuffs.
“They are finding these people because social media companies are handing the government the data,” Mr Torba wrote on X.
“I say again: if the UK wants data on UK Gab users they’ll have to invade Pennsylvania with tanks to try and get it.”
They are finding these people because social media companies are handing the government the data. I say again: if the UK wants data on UK Gab users they’ll have to invade Pennsylvania with tanks to try and get it. https://t.co/NZgS9t7cwY
— Andrew Torba (@BasedTorba) August 4, 2024
Protests erupted in Sunderland on Friday night as anger grows across Britain in the wake of the horrific alleged stabbing murders of three girls by a Rwandan teenager in Southport, with a police station going up in flames.
After earlier protests in Southport, London and Hartlepool, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who posted photos of himself kneeling to appease Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, announced a new national “violent disorder” program.
The plan includes a social media crackdown, the targeting of right-wing dissidents online, and the use of facial recognition technology to identify alleged demonstrators.
Mr Torba also posted a message of support for the protesters on X, writing “we salute you and are praying for you from across the pond lads”, alongside a seemingly AI-generated image of a British soldier waving a giant Union Jack with the aftermath of a rioting in the background.
Gab has its own AI image generation model, which Mr Torba said on Saturday was getting a “big update”.
