Forum

“We will be monitoring Rumble’s position carefully.”

Thread:

For more than a year, @JudiciaryGOP has been warning that UK and European tech regulators are trying to censor US speech. 

First, we took on top EU censor @ThierryBreton when he tried to silence President Trump during the 2024 campaign.

He resigned a month later.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Beginning in February, we subpoenaed 9 tech companies for their communications with foreign censors around the world.

Now, when foreign censors pressure companies to take down US speech, @JudiciaryGOP will know.

Subpoenaed documents produced to the Committee offer new evidence that this is happening. 

The Online Safety Act is the UK’s online censorship law.

It allows the British government to dictate how social media companies must censor so-called “disinformation,” “misinformation,” and hate speech. 

Now, @Ofcom—the UK’s media regulator—is targeting companies, including @rumblevideo and @reddit. 

New nonpublic emails obtained by the Committee reveal Ofcom’s subtle regulatory threats to Rumble—even though the UK is not a target market for Rumble. 

Ofcom: Would you like to meet again?

Rumble: No. We have very few UK users and aren’t targeting the UK market.

Ofcom: Are you sure you don’t want to meet?

Rumble: Yes.

Ofcom: Wrong choice. We’ll be watching you. We have subpoena power and aren’t afraid to use it.

That’s right – UK authorities want to “supervis[e]” a non-UK tech company that “does not have a significant number of online users in the UK” and is not targeting the UK market. 

So why is a UK regulator harassing companies about a UK censorship law that is supposed to apply only to the UK? 

Rumble held the line for now, arguing that it is not within the scope of the OSA—but UK authorities are still watching the platform.

Shortly after Rumble declined to meet, Ofcom menacingly warned Rumble that it would be “monitoring” them “carefully.” 

In the same email, it “strongly encourage[d]” Rumble to take censorship steps required by the OSA.

Rumble is not the only company that has faced regulatory harassment in the UK. New documents produced to the Committee under subpoena also show that Ofcom began “supervision” of Reddit in December 2023.

In Reddit’s case, Ofcom said that the “supervisory relationship” would “help . . . embed [British] standards” on social media on topics like alleged “hate” speech. 

In many cases, those British standards run counter to fundamental American free speech principles.

This summer, the UK’s Information Commissioner described a “clash of cultures” between the UK and American tech platforms. 

He even singled out Reddit, claiming that its speech-friendly policies do not “align” with “the expectations of British lawmakers.”

It’s no surprise—British officials have long been hostile to the online speech rights of Americans.

Just last year, London’s top cop threatened to arrest Americans for online posts they made in America.

The Committee continues to investigate foreign threats to American free speech—and act on them.

Tech platforms continue to produce their communications with foreign government censors on an ongoing basis to the Committee under subpoena. 

And earlier this year, the Committee passed the No Censors on Our Shores Act, which would bar foreign censors from coming to the United States. 

As long as foreign legislators, judges, and regulators continue their attempts to silence US citizens, we will not stop fighting back.