Conservative MP Asked To Resign Over Russell Brand Censorship
Actor Laurence Fox, the star of “My Son Hunter,” called for Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage to step down. She and other political leaders in the U.K. sent a controversial letter to video service Rumble demanding it censor and deplatform Russell Brand.
Dinenage is the chairwoman of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Brand recently came under fire after multiple women accused him of inappropriate and even criminal behavior over a decade ago. Rumble resisted the call to pull his videos and chastised the government official for suggesting censorship.
The platform released a statement calling her letter “deeply inappropriate and dangerous.” Rumble denounced government efforts to dictate who may speak on the service or make money from their content.
Fox declared that “free speech and the presumption of innocence are the cornerstones of a liberal democracy, both have been completely undermined.”
The actor then called for Dinenage to resign.
Rumble’s reaction was far different from Google-owned YouTube. Brand has 6.6 million subscribers on his channel but is now blocked from monetizing his content.
YouTube claimed Brand violated its creator responsibility policy. This states that action will be taken “if a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem.”
But the Canada-based Rumble, on which Brand has 1.42 million followers, put up a fierce resistance. Brand posted a video on the platform Saturday denying he ever engaged in non-consensual relations with anyone.
Platform Chief Executive Chris Pavolvski was the recipient of the letter from Dinenage inquiring on his plans going forward with Brand. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, late Wednesday to rebuke the overture from the British Parliament.
Pavolovski declared, “Although it may be politically and socially easier for Rumble to join a cancel culture mob, doing so would be a violation of our company’s values and mission.” He added, “We emphatically reject the U.K. parliament’s demands.”
Brand became a voice of reason for many conservatives. The former leftist Hollywood darling routinely questions such hot-button issues as the Ukraine war, COVID vaccines and censorship by Big Tech.
This may have put him out on a limb and removed his benefit of the doubt from prominent liberals. He is currently being sentenced by the mainstream media without the pesky formality of a trial and conviction.
