Online video platform and free speech beacon Rumble is experiencing a remarkable boost as Q1 2022 results signal a growing appetite for uncensored news and disgust for establishment narratives.
“When you consider the limited capital Rumble has raised to date, I believe this kind of growth is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski stated in an April 6 Press Release.
“Other technology companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve this amount of market share; Rumble has done it with a fraction of their capital,” the boss of the canuck-headquartered online video platform added.
Rumble’s rise in numbers
The Release stated that through Q1 2022, the company attracted an average of 41 million monthly active users (MAUs), a 22 percent year over year increase. Additionally, in March, Rumble realized a MAU of 44.3 million.
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In terms of user engagement, the outfit did equally well. In Q1, Rumble streamed an average of 10.5 billion minutes per month, which is 23 percent more than Q4 of 2021.
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Also, creators uploaded 6,158 hours of content each day on average, a jaw-dropping increase of 88 percent compared to the previous quarter.
In the Press Release, the maverick video streamer states it prides itself on being “immune to cancel culture” and says its mission is to “restore the internet to its roots by making it free and open once again.”
Apparently, this policy is paying off.
Since its foundation in 2013, the firm has created quite a rumble that set the enterprise apart from its mostly big, left-leaning, establishment COVID-19 narrative-abiding Big Tech competitors such as YouTube and Spotify.
The company expounded on its success very clearly and firmly on Twitter:
“There is a reason the public has radically turned against the corporate media (such as your outlet) and Big Tech: because you have arrogantly claimed for yourselves the power to decide for the public what information they can and cannot be trusted to hear and what views they can and cannot express,” the official Rumble account stated in response to an April 13 hit piece by Canada’s establishment-left Globe and Mail regarding why the platform isn’t following the crowd in censoring Russia state media outlet Russia Today.
“By stark contrast, the reason Rumble is growing so rapidly is because we trust adults to make decisions for themselves about what ideas they can express, and we trust them to make up their own minds after hearing all sides.”
Rumble’s flirt with Rogan
In February, Rumble offered popular podcaster Joe Rogan a $100-million contract to join its platform amidst the threat of censorship from Spotify, where his podcasts are currently broadcast.
Rumble’s offer came after Rogan, a comedian and UFC mixed martial arts host, had drawn fire from critics who wanted his Spotify podcast canceled. Cancel culture knocked on Rogan’s door after he interviewed doctors who challenged the mainstream narrative on COVID-19 and vaccines.
Nonetheless, Rogan decided to stick with Spotify. “No, Spotify has hung in with me inexplicably. Let’s see what happens,” Rogan told The Hollywood Reporter at the time.
Alternative options on the rise
YouTube’s tightening censorship policies have triggered the rise of alternative video platforms as users seek out digital spaces that protect their freedom of speech.
Some such platforms include Odysee, Rumble, and Bitchute. High-profile creators like former Democrat presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, journalist Glenn Greenwald, former U.S. President Donald Trump, and Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis have all moved to Rumble.
In a statement welcoming DeSantis, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski praised the Governor for being at the forefront of demonopolizing Big Tech and protecting free speech.
In 2021, Rumble filed a lawsuit against Google alleging the giant abuses the power of its search engine service, arguing that Google prioritizes YouTube videos over rivals, consequently depriving Rumble of potential traffic and revenues.
