Blocked By Big Tech, Russian State Media Choose To Use Rumble To Spread Content

Rumble, which is more censorship-friendly, will be used by RT to share its content. (photo: twitter @rumblevideo)

JAKARTA - Russian state-controlled news network RT announced Thursday that it will start broadcasting on Rumble, a video site like YouTube.

This decision was taken after technology giants or US Big Tech, such as Meta Platforms Inc. and Twitter and YouTube from Google, have restricted RT's access to their platforms after the Russian invasion from Ukraine.

Big Tech in recent days has moved to limit Russian state-controlled media including RT and Sputnik. This policy was in response to requests from the government and calls to prevent the spread of Russian propaganda.

Streaming media company Roku has also removed its app for RT from the Roku Channel Store globally.

Facebook's owner, Meta Platform Inc., said on Tuesday, March 1 that it was globally taking down content from the Facebook pages and Instagram accounts of Russian state-controlled media outlets.

Rumble is a video site popular among conservatives in the US. In December former US President Donald Trump's media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), said Rumble would post videos and streams for Truth Social, the company's social media app that launched on Apple's App Store on January 21.

With the inclusion of RT into Rumble, it is hoped that they can disseminate content produced by the Russian government or pro-Russian parties widely in cyberspace.

Rumble itself is known as an anti-censorship social media platform. Many Trump supporters have switched to using Rumble since the former US president was blocked by big tech.