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Good evening. It's Thursday, August 17. Welcome to a new episode of System Update, our live nightly show that airs every Monday through Friday, at 7 p.m. Eastern, exclusively here on Rumble, the free speech alternative to YouTube.
Tonight: Twitter executives, led by its new CEO Linda Yaccarino, have been unveiling what they are describing as their new content moderation policies. This week, they even announced the hiring of what they are touting as their election-year "civic integrity" team. At first glance, that sounds like something Yoel Roth could return to do.
Ever since it was announced that Elon Musk was purchasing Twitter accompanied by vows to restore free speech to the platform, I've made no secret of the fact that I was rooting for that to succeed. The primary reason I moved my platform from Substack to Rumble and Locals last year -- agreeing to produce a nightly live show, something I've never done before and that is quite labor-intensive – is because I really believe that fortifying as many platforms as possible truly devoted to resisting censorship demands from corporate media and the U.S. Security State is of the highest priority, the key to preserving the possibility of free internet and, more broadly, free speech in the West. To be clear, I am convinced of Substack's devotion to that cause, but see Rumble as one of the few platforms capable of reaching a mass audience while remaining fully devoted to resisting censorship demands even if it means sacrificing its own self-interest.
It is hard to overstate the positive impact that would come from Twitter's long-term devotion to that cause. The mavens of corporate media and the Democratic Party certainly recognize how important that is, which is why there has been a non-stop assault on Musk and his reputation ever since he vowed to restore free speech to Twitter and remove it from the control of those power centers. And it is precisely due to the importance of that cause that it is vital to report honestly on what is happening at Twitter and whether they are adhering to those commitments. I would not be honest if I did not say that these recent developments are disturbing, and we will explain and analyze why this is the case. I do so primarily in the hope of having Twitter continue to fulfill the vision and promise that Musk laid out when he first took over the platform.
Then: we will talk to the independent journalist Michael Tracey about several topics, including the harsh critiques he has been voicing about the latest indictment of Donald Trump – his fourth! – this one in Georgia; the most recent developments in the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine, including the admissions by one of Congress' most steadfast war supporters – Republican Congressman Andy Harris, of Maryland, who has been the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. He today said that it was time to accept that the vaunted offensive in Ukraine, the one that we've all been told we should wait for because it will transform the dynamics of the war has seemed to fail and that the U.S. as a result needs to start seriously reconsidering the policy that it has announced of endlessly financing this war. Given what he says is the growing likelihood that all of that would be futile.
As a programming note, we are a little bit pressured by the time tonight because I have committed to being on a panel starting at 8 p.m. Eastern tonight convened by the Democratic presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to discuss both state and corporate censorship of the Internet and in particular, the perils of uniting state and corporate power. Participating in this panel does not in any way mean that I have support for his candidacy, it just indicates my interest in this topic and my conviction about its importance. That discussion can be viewed live on RFK’s Channel right here on Rumble, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, so, essentially, immediately following the conclusion of our live program. That's a channel he began on Rumble for the same reason so many people with large and mid-size audiences are now migrating to Rumble, namely, how often and aggressively he was being censored by Google and YouTube.
As a reminder, We’re encouraging our audience to download the Rumble app–on your phone and/or smart TV – and enable notifications. It’s not only a great app that provides an even better viewing experience, but it will also let you know when exactly our show – and any other shows you follow on Rumble – are live.
Next week, for example, we will be in Milwaukee to cover the Republican presidential debate, live, and hope to have a bunch of interviews in connection with it. So, there may be times when we're live on Rumble outside of our normal viewing hours. So, the app will immediately notify you. It's something we really encourage you to do. It helps this show and whatever other shows you want to watch on Rumble, and it helps the platform itself.
Finally, as a reminder, System Update is also available in podcast form. You can follow us on Spotify, Apple and all other major podcasting platforms. Each episode is available 12 hours after we first air them, live, here, on Rumble. And if you review the show, it helps spread the visibility of our program.
We would normally have our live Locals aftershow, given that it is Thursday, we have it every Tuesday and Thursday, but we're doing the event with RFK, Jr. on censorship, at 8 p.m. and, therefore, we won't be able to have our Locals aftershow tonight, but we will be back at our regular times next week every Tuesday and Thursday, depending on the programming relating to our coverage of the debate. And we will keep you notified of that.
For now, welcome to a new episode of System Update starting right now.
