Meet intern Melissa #gabproject

My name is Melissa Blekkenhorst. After finishing the Bachelor Media & Culture, I started the Master New Media & Digital Culture. As an intern of the Data School, I am joining the Gab project. This project focuses on the fringe platform Gab, which is a Twitter alternative that advocates free speech and has become popular among alt-right members. I will be analyzing the governance of this platform. Even though Gab promotes free speech, it has set up a small number of rules to prevent malicious behavior like threats, terrorism, spam, doxxing, illegal pornography and impersonation. My research will be focused on the policies and affordances of Gab in relation to the moderation of the platform.