Russian-Affiliated Radio Shows Booted From YouTube, Simplecast Following Politico Report
Photo by SERGEI GUNEYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
Radio shows associated with Russian-state media are turning to free speech platform Rumble, as mainstream platforms have booted them in recent weeks due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a report by Politico, at least four shows from Sputnik — a news agency established by the Russian state media group Rossiya Segodnya — have begun broadcasting on Rumble.
Their use of Rumble follows their ousting off of platforms including Google, DirecTV, and YouTube.
Politico noted that the four shows — Fault Lines, Political Misfits, By Any Means Necessary, and The Backstory — “appeared to begin posting their content on Rumble on March 14, around the time that Google moved to ban Sputnik.”
The article noted that that shows “push criticism of mainstream Western media and government, especially around the war in Ukraine.”
The hosts of Fault Lines slammed the Politico article during their show on Friday, with co-host Faran Fronczak calling the author a “crappy” journalist who “didn’t even flipping listen to any of the shows.”
Co-host Jamarl Thomas noted, “Their goal is to try to take us off the air by basically writing that stuff.”
Fronczak added at the beginning of the segment: “We welcome all of your articles against us, because it just keeps us like laughing. We’re never going to give you a comment though, but we love them.”
After Politico asked YouTube about Political Misfits and By Any Means Necessary maintaining YouTube channels despite Sputnik being banned, a spokesperson said both channels had been blocked. The Backstory is still available to watch via YouTube.
Sputnik’s page on Simplecast, a platform owned by SiriusXM, was also removed after Politico reached out.
“As soon as the Simplecast team was informed of Sputnik’s use of the company’s hosting services, the decision was made to immediately remove all related content, RSS feed, and accounts associated with the organization,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared by Politico. “Any digital content referenced inside that feed was also purged.”
The By Any Means show criticized YouTube’s move, tweeting that “this is what ‘democracy’ looks like in the US” before adding it would be available on Rumble.
It looks like @YouTube has removed BAMN from its platform. This is what “democracy” looks like in the US, folks. You can still see Sean & Jacquie on https://t.co/8ehG5HKW45. No matter how hard they try to silence us, we’ll keep on rockin, and #TruthWillWin! pic.twitter.com/mM0qp5R7ab
— By Any Means Necessary on Radio Sputnik (@bamnecessary) March 23, 2022
Sean Blackmon, host of By Any Means Necessary, retweeted a post criticizing the Politico piece and its role in getting the show booted from YouTube.
The pride this reporter has for her role in getting @bamnecessary kicked off of YouTube is despicable, is giving new Red Scare, and conveys the “societal self-regulation” critical to such repression. But land of the free and home of the brave tho 🙄
— Dr. CBS (@blackleftaf) March 25, 2022
Rumble, which says it is “on a mission to protect a free and open internet,” has not moved to ban the RadioSputnik channel. Mediaite has reached out to Rumble for comment.
