The CEO of the video streaming platform Rumble said Monday afternoon on X, formerly Twitter, that his site’s outages Monday was due to an “unprecedented” attack that he suspects to be politically motivated.
“I can confirm that this attack has been unprecedented and has been happening since this weekend,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovsky said in response to another X user. “I also suspect it is political, coming from activists and/or organizations who want to censor our creators, and related to J6 videos being posted on Rumble.”
I can confirm that this attack has been unprecedented and has been happening since this weekend.
I also suspect it is political, coming from activists and/or organizations who want to censor our creators, and related to J6 videos being posted on Rumble. https://t.co/tGomVXxEzN
— Chris Pavlovski (@chrispavlovski) December 11, 2023
Pavlovski was responding to online personality David Freiheit, who goes by the moniker Viva Frei.
“I was planning to go live, but Rumble and Locals are down. Apparently it is a massive, unprecedented attack,” Freiheit said. “One that is likely politically motivated. If I have any updates, I will let everyone know. Godspeed Rumble!”
Freiheit added the hashtag #RumbleUnderAttack.
I was planning to go live, but Rumble and Locals are down. Apparently it is a massive, unprecedented attack. One that is likely politically motivated.
If I have any updates, I will let everyone know.
Godspeed Rumble!#RumbleUnderAttack
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) December 11, 2023
Other X users speculated the outage might have been related to a scheduled appearance by Alex Jones on Steven Crowder’s podcast “Louder With Crowder,” which streams on Rumble. Jones was reinstated on X over the weekend after CEO Elon Musk polled users about whether they wanted to see Jones return to the platform, which caused backlash from the political left.
“Oh, I didn’t think about that,” said one X user in response to Pavlovsky’s post. “So it might not have had anything to do with Alex Jones and everything to do with people not wanting the truth about January 6th getting out.”
Oh, I didn't think about that. So it might not have had anything to do with Alex Jones and everything to do with people not wanting the truth about January 6th getting out.
— 🇺🇸Mike🇺🇸 (@FreedomFan88) December 11, 2023
“Wonder if it’s to get to Crowder and in turn [Alex Jones]? Sorry it’s down Viva. I hope it’s back up soon,” said another X user in response to Freiheit.
Wonder if it’s to get to Crowder and in turn AJ?
Sorry it’s down Viva. I hope it’s back up soon.
— Mountain Streams -AJay (@HDealla) December 11, 2023
The Rumble outage comes amid a Chinese cyberattack on “critical systems,” leading others on X to speculate that the two events are related.
As of press time, Rumble appeared to be restored; however additional outages could resume.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
