Before anything else, let’s be clear. The only people that really know what happened years ago in this case is Russell Brand, the accusers and God. The establishment media doesn’t know for sure and doubters of the story don’t know for sure. All that said, you don’t see social media and video platforms cancelling or demonetizing President Joe Biden or former President Bill Clinton because of the sexual assault allegations against them.
So why is this happening? Either because the accusers allegations against Brand are true, or because Brand has become a lightning rod through his podcast in the form of pushing against the establishment.
And while YouTube, the BBC and other outlets and platforms cowardly presume guilt before innocence, there’s one platform that’s telling the establishment to basically go f*** itself — Rumble.
On Wednesday, the video platform — and direct competitor to YouTube — revealed on Twitter/X a letter sent to them by a member of U.K. Parliament essentially demanding that Rumble demonetize and/or deplatform Brand from its site.
The Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage, sent the letter used veiled mafia tactics of passive aggressiveness wanting Rumble to suspend “Mr Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform.”
“We would also like to know what Rumble is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour,” the letter concluded.
Except, Rumble isn’t a British company that cowers to powdered wig authoritarians masquerading as protectors of the people and understands that the accused get the presumption of innocence before guilt.
In response, Rumble tweeted out its response to Parliament, essentially telling them to kick rocks.
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. 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. We don’t agree with the behavior of many Rumble creators, but we refuse to penalize them for actions that have nothing to do with our platform.
Although it may be politically and socially easier for Rumble to join a cancel culture mob, doing so would be a violation of our company’s values and mission. We emphatically reject the UK Parliament’s demands.
Related: Crowder's YouTube Channel Suspended Again, Shows Platform's 'Re-education' Training
Attached is the letter from the UK Parliament. pic.twitter.com/MdeYrlt06J
— Rumble - 🏴☠️ $RUM (@rumblevideo) September 20, 2023
Good for Rumble! It might be common practice in the U.K. to cower in fear of words and arrest people based on jokes they tell on social media, but we once fought a war to get away from such cowardice and pave our own path to what is right and true, regardless of the allegations.
You don’t see U.K. Parliament calling on the removal of videos or accounts associated with Prince Andrew, and that guy has allegations of pedophilia through the still unreleased Epstein Island list.
If true, Brand should feel the full brunt of accountability. But until those allegations are proven, no matter how rabid the mob gets, Brand should be allowed to live his life, which whether true or not, is —at this point — forever changed because of said allegations.
Here's Brand's response to the allegations on his Rumble account from over the weekend:
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Her tone of voice says 'care and compassion,' but her words say 'Orwellian censorship.'
— MRCTV (@mrctv) September 21, 2023
Don't fall for her tone, listen to her words. pic.twitter.com/gvYIFXdlPO