Rescind Rumble’s $825K Grant, Some Sarasota Residents Say

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — As Rumble, a YouTube alternative, continues to offer a platform to RT, a Russian state-controlled news network, during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, some Sarasota County residents are protesting the company’s opening of a U.S. headquarters in Longboat Key.

An online petition is calling for Sarasota County commissioners and the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County to rescind an $825,000 incentive grant awarded to the Canadian-based tech company for making the move to Florida.

Commissioners voted to award the grant to Rumble, which was presented to them anonymously under the code name “Project Sunshine,” during their Oct. 26 meeting.

As of Thursday, nearly 1,100 people have signed the petition at change.org that was created by Adrien Lucas. She also launched the same petition at ipetitions.com, which has about 60 signatures.

“Rumble is the only streaming platform that continues to stream (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's propaganda news channels while the people of Ukraine are being murdered,” Lucas wrote on the petition. “All other platforms in America have shut down Putin's propaganda news channels. Rumble also hosts streaming channels of local January 6, 2021, D.C. insurrectionists, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn along with a number of dangerous bad actors who continue to try and break American democracy.”

She added, “This is not a good look for Sarasota County.”

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Since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine at the end of February, there’s been a worldwide crackdown on RT and other Russian government-operated news. Major technology companies have removed or restricted the network, including the Roku Channel Store and DirectTV, which both removed the English-language RT America from its offerings.

Meta Platforms, which operates Facebook, and Twitter have also restricted access to the network. Facebook and Instagram have designated RT as "Russian state-controlled media."

The European Union also banned RT and Sputnik, another Russian-owned media outlet, for spreading disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. U.K. media regulator, Ofcom, also recently revoked the RT channel’s license to broadcast, Variety reported.

Despite this, Rumble continues to allow RT to share its content using its video-sharing platform.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Rumble said that RT has used its platform “for a long while” and defended allowing the network to continue sharing its content.

“Rumble is a neutral video platform, built on the belief that all creators should have the opportunity to freely express themselves and reach their followers without censorship or restrictions,” the tech company tweeted. “You cannot fight aggressive authoritarians by surrendering a key principle that separates us from them.”

On Rumble, the RT network had 37,000 subscribers as of Monday afternoon — nearly double the number of subscribers it had as of March 5.

Based in Toronto, Rumble has long been popular among conservative influencers and right-wing viewers, the Washington Post reported. Former President Donald Trump turned to the platform after being banned from multiple social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also uses the site to shares state news with residents. Other prominent figures on the site include U.S. representatives Matt Gaetz and Devin Nunes, Sen. Rand Paul, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Hannity, Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, and Ben Shapiro.

“Even if we weren't having Putin's war in Ukraine, and he wasn't murdering and taking out an entire (expletive) country, the county has no business being in show business,” Lucas told Patch. “That's what this Rumble is. It's a crappy streaming business.”

She also says the county should have done a better job reviewing Rumble’s grant application before approving it.

“The commissioners and employees of the EDC that vetted this need to be shamed,” she said.

Lucas plans to present her petitions to county leaders at the March 29 Sarasota County Commission meeting and will even read some of the comments on them.

“This payment is not in the public interest. The payment of money without proper due diligence is a violation of the public trust,” one commenter, Susan Chapman, wrote.

Another commenter, Susan Magers, wrote, “Democracy relies on citizens having truthful information to inform decision making, Rumble is a platform that traffics in misinformation, including propaganda from Russia. It is unconscionable our taxpayer money has been used to support this company and it should be rescinded immediately. We expect elected officials to complete due diligence before committing funds, especially to private, foreign businesses.”

Meanwhile, Doreen Dupont, who lives about a mile from Rumble’s future Longboat Key headquarters at 444 Gulf of Mexico Drive, organized a protest at the site with about half a dozen people on Saturday. She plans to go back every day this week, Monday through Friday.

“Even if I’m out there by myself,” she told Patch.

She encourages people to join her from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. to help her spread the word about Rumble.

“So many people don’t even know about Rumble. Rumble basically deals in disinformation. They’re broadcasting Russian state TV. They’re a big disinformation firm,” said Dupont. “I don’t support genocide. Rumble tries to say they’re standing behind freedom of speech, but they’re just allowing genocide.”

Patch reached out to the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County and all Sarasota County commissioners — Ron Custinger, Nancy C. Detert, Alan Maio, Michael A. Moran and Christian Ziegler — for comments.