A new web tool released late last month by the creators of social network Gab touts itself as the “Wild West of the internet,” promising free, unmoderated discourse across all platforms.
The application, aptly named “Dissenter,” comes in the form of a browser extension and effectively creates an open comment section on every single web page on the internet. The catch: there is nothing website owners can do to modify, manage, or otherwise control the conversation.
Users can install the open-source extension to a number of the most popular web browsers, including Google Chrome and Firefox. Once installed, users can then access a completely unmoderated comment board for each unique web address on the internet.
Because these comment sections are hosted by Gab, and simply indexed to individual webpages, users have the freedom to discuss tweets, YouTube videos, news articles, and more without the threat of censorship that comes with commenting on the platforms themselves.
“Dissenter has become a necessary tool due to rampant corporate censorship of ordinary internet users, whether that takes the form of YouTube demonetizing millions of videos and removing comment sections, Facebook and Instagram banning British activist Tommy Robinson for his political opinions, or Netflix banning comedy shows at the behest of Saudi princes,” said Gab CEO Andrew Torba in a statement announcing the launch of the platform.
Torba later added that the tool is needed now more than ever, claiming that it “puts the power back in the hands of The People to shine a light on propaganda, lies, censorship, corruption, and sophistry across the web.”
“Dissenter launches at a time when comment sections are no longer available on every mainstream news site and blog, YouTube is shutting down comment sections while also demonetizing channels over their comment sections and social media censorship is the worst it has ever been,” he added.
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Having been available to the public for only around two weeks, Dissenter is already facilitating online conversations that would otherwise be impossible.
Last week, YouTube comments were disabled during what some are calling one of the most important podcast episodes in history, a conversation between journalist Tim Pool, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Twitter legal executive Vijaya Gadde on the popular Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.
Pool grilled the execs about censorship of conservative personalities and ideas on the platform. While viewers were unable to discuss the podcast on its host platform and were hesitant to discuss on Twitter given the subject matter, Dissenter facilitated a conversation of over 4,000 comments, allowing users to discuss the show freely while watching. (RELATED: Daily Caller Editor In Chief Locked Out Of Account For Tweeting ‘Learn To Code’)
Late last month, After Marvel’s new film, “Captain Marvel,” was overloaded by negative feedback on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes before the movie was even released, the website removed the comments section for the film and launched a new policy nixing all pre-release movie reviews. According to the site, the change was meant to combat “an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling.”
But Dissenters were still able to comment on the page — and they continue to do so.
To date, users have left 2,700+ comments on the “Captian Marvel” Rotten Tomatoes page via Dissenter, many directly addressing the site’s attempt to control the conversation surrounding the movie, whose critics have been accused of sexism and anti-feminist motivations for leaving negative reviews of the female-lead superhero flick.
Ongoing additions to the platform include a feature that shows users the trending topics among Dissenters per individual platforms, and a “dissent this” button that will appear on each individual tweet for users browsing the Twitter website.