Biden regulator puts free-speech video platform in crosshairs

President Joe Biden's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating video platform Rumble for undisclosed reasons, the agency confirmed to Wired on Monday.

SEC recognition of research in Wired comes after an April report by investment research firm Culper Research alleging that Rumble boosts its monthly active user (MAU) metrics by 66% to 108%, which the company vehemently denies. Investigation Culper disclosed his “short” position in Rumble at the time of the report, indicating a potential profit if Rumble shares fall.

“Rumble now claims (as of Q4 2022) to have 80 million MAUs, but SimilarWeb estimates that in Q4, Rumble.com saw a unique web-based audience of just 28.9 million, SEMrush estimates 38 .8 million unique web visitors and we estimate that Rumble's cumulative mobile app downloads totaled just 9.5 million through the fourth quarter of 2022,” the report states.

The report is inaccurate and part of an effort to remove Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski affirmed Monday.

“The report is false, but that doesn't matter – it's all about getting investors to sell the stock so the short seller can make a profit,” Pavlovski said. “Good news, it won't work. We saw the attacks coming and we were prepared. Before we went public, we chose to use Google Analytics to track and report our MAUs, so we could be prepared for this one moment”.

Rumble is considered a free speech alternative to YouTube and has faced significant pushback from professionals censors.

“This is just the beginning, they're coming for us in 2024,” Pavlovksi added. “They can't stand Rumble's mission, but they'll quickly learn how hard we hold back.”

An SEC spokesman stated its policy not to comment on investigations in response to the Daily Caller News Foundation. However, the SEC's deputy general counsel for litigation and administrative practice, Melinda Hardy, told Wired that the investigation is active in a letter Monday in response to the November public records request.

“We have confirmed with Enforcement Division staff that the investigation for which you are seeking records is still active and ongoing,” Hardy told Wired. The requested documents could reasonably be expected to cause harm to ongoing and active enforcement proceedings because, among other things, persons and entities with an interest in the underlying investigation could fabricate evidence, influence the testimony of witnesses, and/or destroy or alter certain documents. “

The unspecified investigation doesn't necessarily mean Rumble broke any laws, the SEC told Wired.

“Investors should be especially suspicious of rumors planted by short sellers who attempt to distort the facts for their own financial gain,” Rumble spokesperson Rory Rumore told Wired.

Rumble did not immediately respond to DCNF's request for comment.

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