Research: Rumble, a video-sharing site popular with conservatives, is more likely than not to recommend videos with misinfo for “vaccine”, “election” searches
Research shows the emergent video platform can recommend conspiracy theories and other harmful content more often than not. Tweets: @alkapdc , @glichfield , and @alkapdc See also Mediagazer Tweets: Alex Kaplan / @alkapdc : This from @ellielhouse touches exactly on what I was noting: people getting into QAnon from YouTube & then following QAnon shows (in this case “Patriot Streetfighter,” one of the QAnon shows that had anti-vax influencers as guests) to other platforms. https://www.wired.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Gideon Lichfield / @glichfield : Rumble's recommendation algorithm churns out a troubling amount of misinformation. If you search “election,” you're 2x more likely to be recommended videos with misinformation. For “vaccine,” 3x more likely. By @ellielhouse @alicelfwright @ImStanley https://www.wired.com/... Alex Kaplan / @alkapdc : “If you search ‘vaccine’ on Rumble, you are three times more likely to be recommended videos containing misinformation about the coronavirus than accurate information.” https://www.wired.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Rumble is repeating a playbook the coverage has documented before: in 2019, an investigation found YouTube promoting anti-vaccine misinformation through its own search and recommendations, and Guardian reporting traced how its algorithm amplified divisive clips during the 2016 election. The difference is that Rumble is an emergent alternative platform whose appeal rests partly on lighter moderation — so the new research lands on a player that has marketed itself as the escape from exactly this scrutiny.
One nuance matters for how to read this: a later Wired report found that right-wing content's spread on YouTube was driven by supply and demand rather than the algorithm alone. Applied to Rumble, that suggests the misinfo-heavy recommendations aren't purely a ranking failure — the audience pulling that content exists, which makes the fix harder than tuning a recommender.
First-order effects
- Researchers and journalists now have quantified evidence against a platform whose brand is being unmoderated — Rumble's 'more likely than not' rate for vaccine and election searches turns a vague criticism into a measurable one.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers and mainstream creators weighing Rumble get a brand-safety data point to price against, pressuring the platform either to moderate or to lean further into the free-speech positioning that attracts its base.
- YouTube's moderation choices look different in this light: if the smaller rival surfaces misinfo at multiples of the incumbent's rate, enforcement gaps at the challenger become a competitive argument for staying on the bigger platform.
Third-order effects
- The cross-platform migration pattern Alex Kaplan flagged — audiences moving from YouTube to QAnon shows and anti-vax influencers elsewhere — points toward regulation and liability debates following users onto whichever platform hosts them next, rather than stopping at any single company.
The trend: Misinformation scrutiny is migrating down-market from the big incumbents to the smaller alternative platforms that inherit their most disaffected audiences.