Russell Brand’s punishment by YouTube has drawn attention to another, alternative video sharing site: Rumble. While Brand has not been banned from YouTube in the wake of recent allegations, the site did say that it would remove the ability to monetise his videos there through advertising. In the wake of that recent announcement, some – including ex-Fox News presenter Dan Bongino, who is both a shareholder in the platform and one of its biggest stars – have suggested that Brand could instead take his videos to that site. He would be just the latest alternative creator, many of whom are conservatives who have run into moderation issues on other more mainstream sites, to focus on the platform. Already, even as he was able to use YouTube as normal, he has gathered a sizeable following on Rumble: Brand has 1.4 million followers, nearly as many as the 2.3 million he has on TikTok. Rumble began in 2013, and for a long time operated quietly as yet another video-sharing site that most of the world hadn’t heard of; Rumble says that its early years were about “empowering [...] small content creators”. It wasn’t until around 2020 that the site became the rising and alternative centre that it has become today. That happened largely because of controversies elsewhere, that pushed video creators and others off more traditional sites, rather than the pull of Rumble. But Rumble has been ready to catch those who have been forced away from the mainstream, with the promise of more relaxed content moderation. In that way it is much like other “alt tech” sites that spring up in response to restrictions on more mainstream platforms. Just as Donald Trump’s Truth Social aimed to offer an alternative to Twitter, for instance, so does Rumble try and challenge YouTube. What is Rumble? In practice, Rumble is much the same as YouTube: it features a search engine to find videos, a window to watch them in, and suggestions of what videos to go next. Its features are not quite as advanced or well-designed as its Google-owned rival, and the video player is more bare-bones, but it is nonetheless largely similar. It is the content moderation that really marks it out from other video platforms. That is markedly different from other sites. Rumble says that it is focused on working “to protect a free and open internet” and “support diverse opinions, authentic expression, and the need for open dialogue”. Its founder, Chris Pavlovski, has said that it is intended to be “immune to cancel culture” and avoid censorship. In reality, that has meant that it has become a home for those who have been banned for violating the moderation rules of other sites. Often, for example, that is because they have violated policies on coronavirus misinformation. Indeed, the pandemic was a particularly fruitful time for the site, apparently as users flocked to watch videos from those banned creators. Rumble says 2020 saw “order of magnitude increases” in its key metrics, and soon after it received investment from conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel. Who else is on Rumble? Even though the company itself stresses that it aims to be neutral and simply resisting censorship, all of the biggest channels on Rumble are run by those on the right. The site gained particular prominence when it became the home to Andrew Tate, after he was blocked by other platforms, and he now runs a “TateSpeech” channel that has 1.61 million followers. Donald Trump also has a popular channel, and so does his son. But not all of the site’s popular users are on the right, or use it for explicitly political content. The streamer IShowSpeed has a show on the platform, for instance, after he was banned from Twitch, apparently for making sexually inappropriate comments on a stream. The site’s viewers also seem largely to be on the right. About three-quarters of those who use it for news identify as Republicans or lean towards the party, according to the Pew Research Center, in a study published late last year. What are the rules on Rumble? Rumble may be best known for its relaxed content moderation, but it does ban some kinds of behaviour. Today, its content policy is mostly aimed at banning stolen content, as well as video that are pornographic, promote illegal acts, and some other restrictions. Last year, it began a process of working on a new moderation process that aimed to protect users people from harassment. They suggested that the site should ban stalking, for instance, and for attacking other users based on legally protected characteristics. How does Rumble make money? Just like YouTube, Rumble makes money through showing ads before and during videos. And, just like YouTube, it offers a revenue sharing programme that gives some of the money made through those ads back to the creators whose videos they were shown on. Rumble also bought a platform called Locals, in 2021, which allows people to donate to people in return for exclusive content, in a similar way to the more popular Patreon. Russell Brand highlights his Locals account in his Rumble videos. Read More BBC reviews Russell Brand’s time at corporation as YouTube demonetises content How does Russell Brand make money online? Google’s powerful ‘Bard’ AI can now get into your email Google’s powerful ‘Bard’ AI can now get into your email Elon Musk recruiting humans to trial brain implant Starship rocket launch window revealed by FAA

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Adin Ross, one of the most-watched streamers on the internet, is claiming that he will be interviewing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his channel on Wednesday evening. The controversial streamer who has previously collaborated with Andrew Tate and has also been banned from Twitch for a string of offenses. Ross is hitting the headlines again for claiming that he is due to interview Kim Jong Un on his streaming feed despite being apparently warned not to go ahead with the talk with the North Korean dictator. During a stream earlier this week, Ross stated: "I'm getting it in today's stream. I have to address this s*** now," he said. "Listen... okay, Kim Jong Un is locked in (for) tomorrow's stream, at 7:30 Miami time. Okay?" Ross also shared a series of questions that he has planned for Kim which include: Thoughts on LGBT? Can you give Stake money back? React to Andrew Tate. Visit North Korea? Add Yeonmi Park to call. Trump vs. Biden. USA better than North Korea. E-date? Fake n*tsack prank. He also claimed that the US government had been in contact with his legal team to warn of the potentially serious consequences of interviewing Kim. He added: "They saw and hit up, basically, my team and they just let me know there could be consequences for this. You know?" There is little to no indication as to whether this is real or not but Ross has gone as far as to put together poster to hype 'The Interview.' All eyes will be on his stream at 7pm EST to see whether he was telling the truth or if we all fell for an elaborate prank. Who is Adin Ross? Ross started his online gaming career in 2014 when he joined YouTube as a Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K content creator. He then ventured onto Twitch when as his following grew. His streams have since featured rappers including Lil Uzi Vert and Tory Lanez, who was convicted of assault in December 2022. One of his most prominent Twitch bans was a result of a gambling stream, which the platform prohibits. He claimed his most recent ban is for "no reason". Ross has since moved over to Kick, Twitch's rival streaming platform. The new platform has a looser set of rules, which saw Ross reportedly stream the Super Bowl, sharing video calls of white friends saying the N-word and scrolling through Pornhub in front of his reported younger demographic. "Listen, I got permanently banned on Twitch. It’s done, it’s already done," Ross said in a video posted on 26 February. "But I got permanently banned for no reason at all. How do you ban someone on Twitch and my reasoning is for VODs/on-stream, when I haven’t even been streaming there? This is exactly why everyone needs to see Twitch for what it is. It’s full of corrupted, pure corrupted Karens and they’re pick-and-choose-me. And unless you’re a certain person with certain beliefs [Twitch doesn’t] f*** with you." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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