(NationalUSNews.com) — While most Americans love and use the media platform YouTube all the time, many are still unaware there are alternative sites. These sites grew by creating a space where people could speak their minds without the censorship commonly found on more mainstream platforms. Many independent creators are attracted to Rumble because of their dedication to freedom of speech, as governments around the world increasingly support censorship. In 2022, France banned Rumble due to their refusal to censor Russian creators.
Now Russia is banning Rumble because they refuse to remove content the Russian government does not like.
Recently, the Russian government insisted that Rumble remove content from a channel called Allatra TV. The stated reason for their demands was that the channel’s activities were “deemed undesirable “to the Russian Federation. The channel is the internet television network of the ALLATRA International Public Movement. The organization focuses on climate change and is known to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Upon investigation of the channel’s content, Rumble found no violations of their platform’s guidelines and therefore did not acquiesce to Russia’s demands.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski commented that the channel also operates on YouTube, which is not banned in Russia. YouTube has apparently been complying with Russia’s censorship demands, as they say they have removed more than 12,000 channels and more than 140,000 videos relating to the situation in Ukraine since 2022. Pavlovski has characterized Russia’s request for censorship on Rumble as a direct attack on the human right to free expression. He’s also accused YouTube of collaborating with “Russia’s censorship regime”.
Censorship and freedom of speech have become increasingly partisan issues, as many support free expression but only for their own preferred speech. While many support the censorship that made many Rumble users flee YouTube, they condemn censorship against their own viewpoints. Russia banned what they refer to as “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” and threatened to fine or even ban Duolingo in Russia. Duolingo reportedly then removed content supporting LGBTQ+ relationships in their Russian version.
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