Rumble, a YouTube rival popular with conservatives, will pay creators who 'challenge the status quo' [View all]

[brooklynite]

Washington Post

A fast-growing YouTube rival popular with conservative influencers has a new strategy to expand its online audience: Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to well-known media personalities it says work to “challenge the status quo.”

The Toronto-based upstart Rumble said Thursday it has struck deals with former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the journalist firebrand Glenn Greenwald and others who had committed to posting their videos first to the site.

Rumble has emerged over the last year as one of the most prominent video sites for right-wing viewers and provocateurs, and it is seeking to bolster its image as a new online home for those who claim they’ve been censored by Big Tech.

The site bans racism and hate speech but has contrasted itself with the Google-owned YouTube by refusing to remove “medical misinformation,” including those casting doubt on vaccines during a pandemic that is surging in many states and has killed more than 4 million people around the world.