The founder of US free speech platform Gab has revealed he has been threatened with 12 months’ jail by Australia’s Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, which is trying to force him to produce documents.
Andrew Torba shared a copy of a letter Gab received from the Royal Commission, which was set up by Australia’s Labor government in response to the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack following intense pressure from Jewish lobby groups.
Mr Torba responded to the production notice by saying “the Australian government has officially declared war on free speech”.
The Australian government has officially declared war on free speech, and they have threatened me with 12 months in prison for exposing their blueprints.
I have been served with a production notice from their new Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. They are… pic.twitter.com/8jxaPG2K1Y
— Andrew Torba (@BasedTorba) May 11, 2026
“They want to label our speech a national security threat. Their own documents express deep frustration that platforms like Gab have shifted toward true free expression, and they are now moving to force us back into their controlled and state monitored box,” he wrote on X.
“They demanded I hide this information and threatened 12 months of jail time if I speak. Good luck enforcing that. I do not answer to Australian bureaucrats, and Gab does not answer to state-sponsored censors.
“This is exactly why we built Gab. We are creating a parallel society that is independent of their captured institutions, their corrupt courts, and their laughable threats of imprisonment.
“You cannot cage the truth, and you cannot stop a people who have decided they will no longer be silenced. We are staying the course.”
United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet, who has been pushing for free speech to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution, backed Mr Torba in response to his post.
“Australian government bureaucrats are that out of control that they are threatening an American citizen. Australia is not a serious country anymore,” Mr Babet wrote.
Australian government bureaucrats are that out of control that they are threatening an American citizen. Australia is not a serious country any more. https://t.co/HMS6vPGyCl
— Senator Babet (@senatorbabet) May 11, 2026
“Probably not a good idea for the Royal Commission to be sending these types of letters to Americans…” wrote the Free Speech Union of Australia.
Under Australian law Royal Commissions have the power to require persons to produce documents, or face prosecution, and can authorise the Australian Federal Police to carry out search warrants.
Public hearings began earlier this month, focusing on testimony from Jewish people about their “lived experience” with anti-Semitism, including the airing of numerous verifiably false claims, including that authorities failed to respond to attacks on the Jewish community.
Mr Torba has previously defied threats from Australia’s controversial eSafety Commissioner demanding censorship of a video, and refused to comply with an order from the Australian government to identify a user who allegedly made offensive posts about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
He also refused to back down to demands from the German government to identify a user who called a politician fat, and said he would never comply with requests from the UK government to identify anti-immigration protesters.
Header image: Left, Andrew Torba. Right, Anthony Albanese (PMO).
The post Gab founder defies threats from Australian anti-Semitism inquiry: ‘War on free speech’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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