Rumble contradicts STF and keeps channels of Judiciary targets on the air

The Rumble video platform, known for its appreciation of freedom of expression, continues to keep channels of influencers critical of the Judiciary on the air. In at least one of the cases, the measure contradicts the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). On January 11, three days after the attack on the buildings of the Three Powers, Minister Alexandre de Moraes ordered the blocking of the social networks of federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), podcaster Monark and influencers Paula Marisa and Bárbara Destefani on multiple platforms.

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According to the minister, the decision was aimed at “interrupting the dissemination of hateful speeches, subversion of order and incentives to break institutional and democratic normality”. Influencers, however, deny that they have endorsed the attacks.

Despite the determination, Rumble decided to keep Monark’s channel, currently with 266,000 followers, active. To the report, the advisory of the STF said that the “Rumble platform fulfilled the determination of Minister Alexandre de Moraes”. However, the profile was not blocked in Brazil and it is still possible to access the presenter’s videos.

Blocking order took place after post about January 8

In the decision with the blocking orders, Moraes determines that media platforms “identify and remove content that promotes incitement to acts of invasion and depredation of federal public buildings throughout the national territory”. He also mentions the “disruption of monetization of profiles and transmission of social media” that promote acts of invasion of public buildings.

Monark, shortly before the blockade, had commented on the January 8 demonstrations. “I feel sympathy for the people who are protesting, this state of ours is a nefarious and authoritarian dictatorship, they only steal from the people. Something must be done, but our political class has proven to be cowardly and conniving, so it’s normal for people to feel hopeless and rebel,” he posted on Twitter the day after the protests. Shortly afterwards, on the same day as the post, he condemned the violent way in which the demonstration unfolded, but that did not prevent his accounts from being blocked.

A People’s GazetteMonark praised the platform’s stance in denying the block and said it had “their full support [Rumble] in this crisis” of the blockades determined by the minister. The podcaster, who often participates in free speech debates, is enthusiastic about Rumble’s low content moderation stance.

“In Brazil, the only platform that has bought into the fight for freedom of expression is Rumble. There is no other. I really wish there was another one, but there isn’t. It doesn’t exist because it’s expensive to buy this fight”, emphasized Monark in a video on the social network.

In fact, failure to comply with Moraes’ order to block deputy Nikolas Ferreira’s account, last month, cost Telegram a fine of R$1.2 million. The application’s lawyers alleged to the STF that the content removal orders have been made with “generic grounds” and in a “disproportionate” way. In addition, they maintained that the complete blocking of profiles could represent censorship and prevent “a free communication space for legitimate speeches”. Even so, Moraes claimed that “there is no justification” for non-compliance and applied the millionaire fine.

Other Influencers Who Have Posted to Rumble

Monark was one of the first Brazilians with a significant number of followers to join the Rumble. But with recent attacks by the Judiciary and the platforms themselves, which tend to censor certain content, mainly conservative influencers, but also those on the left, began to migrate there.

Journalist Paulo Figueiredo, who is being investigated in a confidential STF investigation, is one of those who started using Rumble due to repeated orders to block profiles by Moraes. With almost 90 thousand followers, Figueiredo has videos with more than 300 thousand views. Journalist Allan dos Santos, who had his social networks suspended by order of Moraes, is another to use Rumble to publish content.

Among the leftist content producers present on the platform, the main one is the American journalist and co-founder of The Intercept Glenn Greenwald, who has more than 300,000 followers. Recently, Glenn published a video talking about the escalation of censorship by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. The journalist, who became a target of the left for pointing out such abuses, also sees the platform as one of the few to raise the flag of freedom of expression.

“People still don’t understand how much the Rumble audience size has exploded. And the more repressive and objectionable Google-owned YouTube becomes, the more free speech platforms will grow. In addition to political voices, there is now a huge influx of Gen Z creators and culture flocking there,” Greenwald said on Twitter.

Writer Reginaldo Ferreira da Silva, known as Ferréz, is another left-wing influencer who migrated to Rumble. “I was dissatisfied. We say a word they [no YouTube] don’t like it and already limit the reach of our videos. You cannot quote the word pedophilia, for example. You cannot say the word slaughter. My show was live, there was no editor. The subjects of the periphery are heavy. Had problems all the time. I got discouraged”, said Ferréz to Folha de S. Paulo.

“We create technologies that are immune to cancel culture,” says Rumble

The video platform was created in 2013 “when small content creators were rapidly being de-prioritized on existing platforms in favor of influencers, corporations and big brands,” says the official Rumble website.

With more than 70 million users worldwide, the platform claims a mission to protect a “free and open internet” and to be “immune to cancel culture”. The company’s CEO, Chris Pavlovski, recently stated that “Rumble was pressured to censor” but that he would “fight to the end” for the platform to remain free of censorship.