NEW YORK, Dec. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Rumble, the video sharing platform RUM and its subscription platform Locals today filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James to challenge a new state law that forces social media platforms to crack down on constitutionally protected expressions of opinion

The law forces a variety of internet platforms to post a policy explaining how they will respond to online opinions that might be perceived as “defamatory, degrading or inciting to violence” based on a protected class such as religion, gender or race . The law does not define “slander,” “humiliate,” or “incite,” meaning it would cover constitutionally protected expressions such as jokes, satire, political debate, and other online commentary. The law also requires platforms to give visitors the ability to complain about “hateful content” and requires them to respond to complaints with a direct response. Failure to comply could result in investigations by the attorney general’s office, subpoenas and daily fines of $1,000 per violation.

Rumble and Locals are being represented in the lawsuit by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and upholding the individual rights of all Americans to freedom of expression and thought. Rumble and Locals is joined in the lawsuit by constitutional law professor Eugene Volokh, co-founder of legal blog Volokh Conspiracy.

“New York law would open the door to the suppression of protected speech based on activist and bully complaints,” said Chris Pavlovski, chairman and CEO of Rumble. “Rumble will always celebrate freedom and support creative independence, so I’m excited to partner with FIRE to help protect legitimate opinion online.”

ABOUT RUMBLE

Rumble is a high-growth neutral video platform creating rails and an independent infrastructure designed to be immune to the abandonment culture. Rumble’s mission is to bring the internet back to its roots by once making it free and open…