Video-sharing platform and cloud services provider Rumble has filed a defamation lawsuit against the co-founders of Check My Ads, a watchdog organization.
Rumble's legal action follows a similar suit by X Corp against Media Matters, signaling a broader effort against entities attempting to stifle dissent and manipulate public opinion online.
Rumble, known as a free speech alternative to YouTube, claims that Nandini Jammi, Claire Atkin and Media Matters for America, who have targeted news outlets not aligning with their political views, aim to silence competing points of view.
“As an unapologetically free-speech platform, Rumble’s mission is to provide all content creators and users a place to speak, listen, and debate freely, regardless of their political perspective,” Rumble Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.
“When anti-free speech zealots, whose self-declared mission is to shut Rumble down, lie to inflict intentional economic harm on our company, we have no choice but to hold them accountable.”
“Defamation is not free speech. We have filed this lawsuit because we have a responsibility to our shareholders, creators, users, and advertisers to act, and not sit idly by, when someone attacks our company’s reputation solely to silence differing political views. Our mission requires it.”
Rumble’s lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Florida, alleges intentional economic harm and false statements by the defendants.
“The irony is that the defendants piously claim to be in the business of protecting all of us from disinformation, but they are the ones lying to the public,” Pavlovski said.
“This lawsuit opens up another front in the ongoing war against censorship, much like X’s recently filed suit against Media Matters — another entity that tries to shut down dissent online — and Truth Social’s lawsuit against 20 media outlets. For those of us who value free expression and the free exchange of ideas, it is important to stand up to bullies — and people who lie and use intimidation tactics are most assuredly bullies, just as they are enemies of free speech.”
The lawsuit has been filed against Jammi, Atkin and unnamed individuals, accusing them of orchestrating a smear campaign to divert advertisers from Rumble's platform.
Rumbles accuses the defendants of peddling a narrative that Rumble is heavily dependent on Google Ad revenue, which represents less than 1% of the company's revenue.
“[F]or years, they have engaged in their own hypocritical disinformation campaign to censor, silence, and cancel speech by spreading false, materially misleading, and defamatory statements and engaging in tortious conduct to convince advertisers to withdraw ad spends from platforms like Rumble that host content creators who espouse views contrary to Defendants’ hyper-partisan sensibilities. In the 2010s, their targets were Bill O’Reilly, Breitbart News, and Tucker Carlson. Today, their targets are Elon Musk, X, and Rumble,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit alleges defamation, asserting that Jammi, Atkin and Media Matters for America spread false and damaging statements about Rumble to influence advertisers to withdraw their spending.
Rumble, known for its content-neutral approach, claims that the defendants deliberately launched a disinformation campaign, falsely portraying the platform as heavily reliant on Google Ads for revenue, when, in reality, such revenue constitutes less than 1% of the company's total revenue.
The lawsuit seeks actual and punitive damages, court costs, legal fees and an injunction against further defamatory statements.
Rumble made headlines in September after it rejected calls to demonetize commedia Russell Brand, who hosts anti-censorship program “Stay Free” on the 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," Rumble in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). "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."
The issue arose after media reports targeted at Brand recalled instances of alleged sexual abuse.
YouTube removed Brand’s ability to earn money through its platform connected to his “Stay Free” programming.
The filing comes in the wake of similarly under-attack X Corp. against Media Matters, which is also being investigated by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.