Russian-backed RT heads to YouTube copycat Rumble after tech companies enact restrictions

Not long after YouTube and a number of other platforms enacted restrictions on Russian state-controlled news outlet RT, the network itself announced Thursday it would instead begin broadcasting on Rumble, an alternative online video platform popular among U.S. conservatives, The New York Times and Reuters report.

"RT gets ready to... Rumble: After a multitude of platforms have moved to knock out our broadcast and limit social media... You can stay on top of our LIVE broadcast, any time, anywhere right here," RT tweeted on Thursday.

Multiple tech and social media companies have, in recent days, moved to limit Russian misinformation and propaganda across their platforms as the war in Ukraine unfolds, the Times reports. In one example, Twitter this week said it would flag posts that link to Russian state-affiliated media outlets with a label, per the Times. In another, streaming company Roku removed the RT app from its global Roku Channel Store, per Reuters. And on Tuesday, DirectTV, only one of two major U.S. carriers to offer RT's stateside affiliate RT America, announced it would be taking the channel off the air.

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CNN on Thursday also reported that the production company behind RT America had laid off most of its staff, which could perhaps mean "an effective end" to RT America. The network is "one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main mouthpieces in the U.S.," CNN writes.