Microsoft Demands Fringe Social Network Pull Anti-Semitic Posts

Microsoft is cracking down on hate speech by threatening to pull its cloud services from Gab, a controversial social networking service that's been hosting anti-Semitic comments from a former US Senate candidate.

On Thursday, Gab said that Microsoft had given it 48 hours to delete the anti-Semitic comments or else it would pull its Azure services from the social networking platform, leaving it offline potentially for weeks or months.

Microsoft told PCMag that the company had received complaints about the offensive posts, which advocated for the "ritual death by torture" and "complete eradication" of all Jews. "After an initial review, we have concluded that this content incites violence, is not protected by the First Amendment, and violates Microsoft Azure's acceptable use policy," the company said in an email.

The anti-Semitic comments on Gab stemmed from two posts made by Patrick Little, who is openly anti-Semitic and ran for a US Senate seat in California earlier this year. Gab has since taken down both posts, noting that one of them violated its own user guidelines on content.

"The other is offensive and edgy and something we obviously don't agree with, but there is much worse on Twitter/Facebook/Reddit about white people that is allowed to stay," wrote Andrew Torba, Gab's founder.

Nevertheless, Gab has refrained from deleting Little's account, which has posted other anti-Semitic comments. The platform markets itself as a free speech social network designed to counter the control of Silicon Valley's "smug elites." However, journalists have described Gab as an "alt-right" version of Twitter that hosts content from racists, conspiracy theorists and internet trolls. Both Apple and Google have blocked Gab from their app stores over circulating pornography and hate speech.

In response to Thursday's incident, Gab has been telling the public that it's been unfairly targeted. The service points to rival Twitter for hosting what it claims to be "anti-white" hate speech from users.

"This is the primary reason for Gab's next investment round: becoming the anti-Silicon Valley and building out our own infrastructure immediately," Gab tweeted.

Recommended by Our Editors

Reddit Bans Nazi Discussion Forums With Rule Change

Republicans, Trump Slam Twitter Over Account 'Shadow Banning'

Facebook Stirs Up Controversy by Permitting Holocaust Deniers

Microsoft's action comes as several Silicon Valley companies decided to partly ban far-right web show host Alex Jones from their platforms. This has prompted conservative critics to accuse the tech industry of censorship in what's been an ongoing culture war over free speech and trying to stop hate and misinformation from spreading on the internet.

So far, Microsoft hasn't commented on whether it'll demand Gab take further action to delete hate speech from Little's account. In April, Gab reported having 465,000 users.

Twitter Rolling Out 280-Character Tweeting