In a win for figures such as Donald Trump and other like-minded champions of alternative media platforms, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just announced the conclusion of its probe of Rumble Inc. and declared that – at least for now – no corrective actions against the company will be recommended, as Just the News reports.
The outcome is being hailed as a significant victory for those seeking the establishment and success of platforms committed to principles of free speech both here and abroad.
Just the News obtained a communication from Sarah Mallett, assistant regional director at the SEC, to Rumble that outlined the contours of the agency's decision.
“We have concluded the investigation as to Rumble Inc. Based on the information we have as of this date, we do not intend to recommend an enforcement action by the Commission against Rumble Inc,” the letter declared.
With that said, however, the letter added, “We are providing this notice under the guidelines set out in the final paragraph of Securities Act Release No. 5310, which states in part that the notice 'must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or that no action may ultimately result from the staff's investigation.”
As Wired reported earlier this year, the SEC confirmed to the outlet that it had indeed launched an investigation of Rumble, Inc., making the revelation in response to a public records request filed last year.
The SEC's admission of the existence of such a probe came on the heels of allegations that the video platform had engaged in deceptive inflation of key user metrics, though executives at the company denied those claims.
At the time, the SEC described its investigation into the platform, which says it stands as a bulwark “against cancel culture and creeping censorship,” as “active and ongoing,” but it now appears that the probe has been brought to a close.
As part of Rumble's commitment to the aforementioned mission, it hosts programming from conservative personalities including Donald Trump Jr. and Steven Crowder, and it is also the official streaming partner for this election cycle's 2024 presidential debates, as Wired explained.
Rumble's financial backers have included notables such as Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and Elon Musk, as well as venture capitalists Peter Thiel and David Sacks, and the platform was hit last spring with a publicized research report skeptical of the company's claimed monthly active user counts, a metric used by investors when making performance assessments.
The conclusion of the SEC probe into Rumble comes soon after Trump's Truth Social platform secured a win of its own, in that the media company that owns the site recently secured approval for a planned merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., as Fox Business noted.
The merger itself would transform Truth Social into a publicly traded company and generate millions of dollars in value, including roughly $4 billion for Trump himself, who would own somewhere between 58% and 69% of the entity.
Amid news of the milestone, Digital World CEO Eric Swider stated, “We are immensely proud of the strides we've taken toward advancing the Business Combination. This achievement marks a significant milestone for us. Our sincere thanks go to our shareholders for their unwavering support. We are excited to soon share the news of the Business Combination's approval process with them.”
Though the deal may still face opposition from certain Trump Media co-founders, if it does ultimately succeed, Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes suggested that it would “accelerate our work to build a free speech highway outside the stifling stranglehold of Big Tech,” a goal that Rumble appears to wholeheartedly share.
