The Securities and Exchange Commission has notified Rumble, a video platform described as a free-speech alternative to YouTube, that it cleared the company after public allegations the firm inflated user metrics.
A recent report in Wired magazine said the SEC had an “active and ongoing” investigation into the platform, which is popular with conservatives, but the agency says it didn’t find wrongdoing meriting action.
“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.,” SEC Assistant Regional Director Sarah Mallett wrote to the company in a letter dated Tuesday.
Rumble was created in 2013 by Canadian entrepreneur Chris Pavlovski and is known as a platform that pushes back against censorship and cancel culture.
It was an official streaming partner for the Republican National Committee’s primary debates during the 2024 presidential cycle.
Mr. Pavlovski said in January the short-lived investigation was part of a coordinated ploy by short sellers manipulating the market.
“A short seller creates a bogus report and sends it to the SEC. The SEC investigates the bogus report. Then the short seller talks to the media to get a story about how the SEC is investigating the report that started with him. The media happily writes the story,” he wrote on X. “The report is bogus, but that doesn’t matter — it’s all to get investors to sell the stock so the short seller profits.”