During an address welcoming the company to the state, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took the time to tell the public that he has chosen Rumble as his video sharing service of choice.
The high-profile Republican’s office released a video of DeSantis who at the same time congratulated Rumble – formerly a Canada-based company – for choosing Florida for its US headquarters.
Thanks to new legislation and, among other incentives, the state’s more relaxed rules seeking to minimize the negative impact of pandemic restrictions, Florida, along with Texas, started to position itself as an alternative to California, i.e., “Silicon Valley.”
DeSantis was sure to make the point of Big Tech’s censorship as a form of overreach that the federal government couldn’t (or wouldn’t) stop.
And referring to Big Tech’s “censorship regime,” he mentioned that he himself was targeted by YouTube (i.e., Google) and that his office consequently opted for YouTube’s free speech competitor, Rumble.
The question always asked, even in cases when Big Tech competitors demonstrate resilience and the ability to grow user base despite all the challenges, is how viable an alternative each of them truly is.
Governor DeSantis seemed to answer this by saying that not only does he consider Rumble a platform that stands for freedom of speech – but also one that he has been able to use for several years in order to “boycott” YouTube.
Describing it as a “backstop,” DeSantis said that Rumble enabled him to bypass YouTube and other companies’ attempts to silence him and his team for a full two years now.
“So welcome to the USA,” the governor said, adding, “Welcome to Florida, and know that you’ve got my business because you believe in the importance of the First Amendment and the freedom of speech that we hold dear.”
During the same address, he announced a digital Bill of Rights that the state would use to protect data privacy in Florida, something that he does not see the federal government doing when faced with tech giants’ business models.
Some of those reacting on Twitter to the news seem encouraged by DeSantis leading by example on this issue, and are now deciding to leave YouTube after many years – usually a major stumbling block for any new platform trying to break through into powerful corporations’ established and by and large cemented markets.
