[Peace-discuss] How Rumble.com earns your respect

[J.B. Nicholson]

I wrote:
> This is why it's worth passing around rumble.com URLs instead of YouTube. Rumble has 
> a history of going up against state-sponsored calls for censorship such as when 
> France told Rumble to stop carrying RT and other Russian outlets Rumble reacted by 
> continuing to carry those channels and telling France that they'd rather give up the 
> French market than comply with censorship. France blocked Rumble and we get one more 
> place to pick up the news that we're not supposed to see or hear.

Rumble.com is earning more respect today with their response to the UK Parliament in 
https://twitter.com/chrispavlovski/status/1704593845546094683

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski wrote:
> The attacks on Rumble are relentless, from all angles, and accelerating
> 
> Having the support of the people to defend what's right (constitutional values) is
> all I need to keep taking the punches and moving forward
> 
> I can never thank our supporters enough for getting behind us ❤️
Here's the text of the query and response.

UK Parliamentary query:
> Culture, Media and Sport Committee
> House of Commons, London SW1A OAA
> Tel 020 7219 6188 website www.parliament.uk/cms 
> 
> Chris Pavlovski
> Chief Executive Officer Rumble 
> 
> By email 
> 
> 20 September 2023 
> 
> Dear Chris, 
> 
> I am writing concerning the serious allegations regarding Russell Brand, in the
> context of his being a content provider on Rumble with more than 1.4 million
> followers.
> 
> The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is raising questions with the broadcasters
> and production companies who previously employed Mr Brand to examine both the
> culture of the industry in the past and whether that culture still prevails today.
> 
> However, we are also looking at his use of social media, including on Rumble where
> he issued his pre-emptive response to the accusations made against him by The
> Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches. While we recognise that Rumble is not the
> creator of the content published by Mr Brand, we are concerned that he may be able
> to profit from his content on the platform.
> 
> We would be grateful if you could confirm whether Mr Brand is able to monetise his
> content, including his videos relating to the serious accusations against him. If
> so, we would like to know whether Rumble intends to join YouTube in suspending Mr
> Brand's ability to earn money on the platform.
> 
> We would also like to know what Rumble is doing to ensure that creators are not
> able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and
> potentially illegal behaviour.
> 
> Yours sincerely, 
> 
> Dame Caroline Dinenage DBE MP
> Chair, Culture, Media and Sport Committee


Rumble's response:
> Today we received an extremely disturbing letter from a committee chair in the UK
> Parliament.
> 
> While Rumble obviously deplores sexual assault, rape, and all serious crimes, and
> believes that both alleged victims and the accused are entitled to a full and
> serious investigation, it is vital to note that recent allegations against Russell
> Brand have nothing to do with content on Rumble's platform.
> 
> Just yesterday, YouTube announced that, based solely on these media accusations,
> it was barring Mr. Brand from monetizing his video content. Rumble stands for very
> different values. We have devoted ourselves to the vital cause of defending a free
> internet — meaning an internet where no one arbitrarily dictates which ideas can
> or cannot be heard, or which citizens may or may not be entitled to a platform.
> 
> We regard it as deeply inappropriate and dangerous that the UK Parliament would
> attempt to control who is allowed to speak on our platform or to earn a living
> from doing so. Singling out an individual and demanding his ban is even more
> disturbing given the absence of any connection between the allegations and his
> content on Rumble. We don't agree with the behavior of many Rumble creators, but
> we refuse to penalize them for actions that have nothing to do with our platform.
> 
> Although it may be politically and socially easier for Rumble to join a cancel
> culture mob, doing so would be a violation of our company's values and mission. We
> emphatically reject the UK Parliament's demands.


I think that, given the complaints from government figures at the US/UK hearings 
against Twitter, Facebook, and Google, it's clear that questions like these are aimed 
at increasing censorship among outlets. Talk of "control[ling] who is allowed to 
speak", "join[ing] a cancel culture mob", and "[s]ingling out an individual and 
demanding his ban" are quite reasonable reads into this letter.

I don't know of any evidence against Brand nor the identities of the women who 
recently aired their claims via the media instead of filing lawsuits. All I've seen 
of these women are talking silhouettes with dramatic background music & camera 
angles, elements which make me think that I'm being manipulated as I'd expect from a 
drama. This is supposed to be serious business but it's not being handled very 
seriously by the parties who are bringing these claims to us.

This is where calls for endless shunning of figures like Richard Stallman go when 
handled without due process. This is very much a part of the future the elites have 
planned for us all with tighter connections between one's banking, what one says 
online, and one's freedom of speech (as exhibited by the Canadian Trucker protests 
against mandating COVID jabs where supporters had their bank accounts frozen in a 
manufactured emergency). If you say or do something the establishment doesn't like, 
you can be made to suffer restrictions you didn't think were connected.
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