Rumble has been on a growth spike for the past few years as many users look to alternatives to YouTube and other big tech platforms. Rumble had many issues when it first started, but things have improved in the past few months, and it is becoming a viable alternative to its main rival, YouTube.
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Now, it looks like Rumble may have opened a door for it to enter into discovery in court. YouTube’s parent company, Google, filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that companies like it violate federal antitrust laws. Antitrust laws are put in place, so there is fair competition between companies that operate in the same space.
The Rumble lawsuit centers around its claim that Google uses its monopoly on “search” to squash the competition in its various verticals. Using your high ground and promoting your services over others on that high ground is illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.
According to Glenn Greenwald, writing at Substack, “it is rare for antitrust suits against the four Big Tech corporate giants (Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon) to avoid early motions to dismiss.” The big news here is that the court’s decision to deny Google’s motion to dismiss the Rumble lawsuit means that the door to the discovery stage is now open.
Wikipedia defines discovery as; “Discovery, in the law of common law jurisdictions, is a pre-trial procedure in a lawsuit in which each party, through the law of civil procedure, can obtain evidence from the other party or parties by means of discovery devices such as interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admissions and depositions. Discovery can be obtained from non-parties using subpoenas. When a discovery request is objected to, the requesting party may seek the assistance of the court by filing a motion to compel discovery.”
Friday’s decision against Google ensures that the suit now proceeds to the discovery stage, where Rumble will have the right to obtain from Google a broad and sweeping range of information about its practices, including internal documents on Google’s algorithmic manipulation of its search engine and the onerous requirements it imposes on companies dependent upon its infrastructure to all but force customers to use YouTube.
Glenn Greenwald
Holy article, Batman! There is a ton more interesting information on Glenn Greenwald’s Substack so be sure to check that out. The big takeaway here is discovery is open, which means Rumble may be able to compel the court to make Google reveal its algorithm secrets and how they operate. Which will all know has been a big secret for years.
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