Video-sharing platform Rumble has said it won’t follow YouTube’s example and ‘demonetize’ content from controversial social commentator Russell Brand, accusing the UK Parliament of “deeply inappropriate and dangerous” behaviour.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), decided that Brand cannot earn revenue from his popular YouTube channel due to a barrage of serious accusations of rape and sexual assault against the former actor following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.
Brand has vigorously denied the allegations, telling his 6.62 million YouTube followers that, though he has always been very transparent about his promiscuous nature, his sexual relationships have always been consensual.
“Today we received an extremely disturbing letter from a committee chair in the UK Parliament,” Rumble said in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
“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 the recent allegations against Russell Brand have nothing to do with content on Rumble’s platform.”
Following YouTube’s announcement that it was barring Brand from monetizing his video content, Rumble said it 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.”
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