BitChute and Rumble Sued for Violating Own “Terms of Service”: Punitive Penalties Could Run $30 Million Each

PRESS RELEASE

Madison, WISCONSIN – August 14, 2025  – Rumble and BitChute were sued today for violating their own terms of service. Many have found themselves the targets of abuse in the past, but the case that prompted these lawsuits may be the most egregious in the history of the internet. The Plaintiff alleges he has been subjected to egregious forms of harassment, cyberstalking, defamation, and (even) elder abuse over 700 times by videos created by one Victor Hugo Vaca II, which they have published since January of 2025.

The suits were filed by James Fetzer, Ph.D., on behalf of himself and his colleagues who have been attacked for speaking up on his behalf, and every Rumble or BitChute user who has flagged a video only to have the “moderator” reply that it conforms to BitChute or Rumble’s “terms of service”, which declare that those platforms will not allow personal information promoting harm or injury to any group or individual, including libel, slander, doxxing, defamation or violations of privacy rights. Fetzer says “It’s all a sham!” and that they are legally liable for violating their own user contract.

“We submitted dozens upon dozens of complaints to specific videos, which were loaded with defamation and violations of privacy rights”, Fetzer explained. “Yet they came back promptly with claims to have been ‘reviewed and found to be consistent with our terms of service’. Those reviews appear to have been done by AI bots, not human beings. So we sent them both ‘Cease and Desist” demands, identifying the terms of service that were being violated, not just once but 100s of times. No response. Just crickets!” They appear to believe they are immune from liability for their platform users’ content.

The suits were filed separately against BitChute and Rumble at the federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin. While Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides broad immunity from litigation stemming from user content, social media platforms lose that immunity when they “materially contribute” to the creation or development of the unlawful content.

Fetzer became the target of a relentless defamation campaign across both social media platforms after terminating a contributor from his show on Revolution Radio, “The Raw Deal”, in January 2025. After Vaca was terminated, he launched a seven-month defamation campaign, that is still ongoing, in which he sought to discredit, defame, and deplatform Fetzer over his reporting on Sandy Hook. Vaca posted hundreds of videos defaming Fetzer to the point of overwhelming search engines with his defamatory content, which Fetzer describes as “political pornography.” Vaca has defamed colleagues who supported, defended, or hosted Fetzer on their shows through a relentless smear campaign that included obscene thumb nails and grossly false allegations of crimes, sexual misconduct, and more.

The contributor, who bills himself as a “Maverick Artist,” retaliated by posting defamatory videos against Fetzer and his co-hosts. Vaca began attacking Fetzer by claiming he had thrown his Sandy Hook lawsuit, which was absurd since Fetzer had even carried it to the US Supreme Court and has four appeals currently pending before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (IV). When Kevin Barrett, who had been present at the trial for damages, told him he was wrong, it made no difference: he proceeded in reckless disregard of facts. Vaca has also targeted Alex Jones and Wolfgang Halbig. The AJ reference may be a distraction: Vaca has characterized Fetzer as “a gnat in the way of what we are trying to do for Jones”. He keeps Fetzer in the foreground and includes his name even when he’s not part of the video content.

A mild example of his work displays his preoccupation with “penis art”. Already in 2008, The New Times of Miami was reporting that Vaca was “hanging four-foot penis paintings across the VIP section at Art Basis” as one of “Miami’s strangest”. Today Victor markets a line of men’s underwear “For Men Who Love Men” with Fetzer’s name to promote his product, which features the image of a penis, implying that Fetzer must be gay. Fetzer is straight with a son from his first marriage and a daughter by his second. Vaca’s smears are unrelenting and (very often) cruel and sadistic.

Vaca has now expanded his list of targets to include virtually everyone who has featured Fetzer or spoken out on his behalf, including Mike Adams, X22 Report, Stew Peters, SGT Report, Russ Winter, Joachim Hagopian, Brian Davidson, Susan Bradford,. Dave Gahary, FTJ network, John Coleman, Real Deal Media, Sofia Smallstorm, Giuseppi Vafanculo, Carl Herman, and more. Indeed, he appears to be attacking half the alt-truth community.

Vaca has been called the “Angel of Death” for his ability to smear and libel using claims to artistry and reporting as his cover. His attacks have run as many as 5 or 6 in a single day, suggesting that he is being paid by the piece. Vaca has acknowledged being in communication with the BitChute CEO Ray Vahey, thereby revealing, in the process, a network of operatives working within and through the platforms to weaponize free speech on behalf of political interests.

Fetzer seeks $10 million from each platform for profound personal, professional, and reputational damage and emotional distress – and treble penalty damages for willful negligence and material support that enabled and furthered the damages and injury. Fetzer maintains that monetary damages are secondary and intended as punishment for inflicting other-than-financial damages and that removing the videos and preventing the ongoing offenses is of primary concern.

Many individuals have been targeted through Vaca’s defamation campaign, a few of whom are named in court documents, though the number of injured parties is now quite substantial. Both platforms subscribe to a “free speech absolutist” ethos in which harmful or hateful speech is largely unregulated and appears to be encouraged and weaponized for political purposes.

Legal documents concerning the case against Rumble can be accessed and read here:

JUSTIA: https://dockets.justia.com/docket/wisconsin/wiwdc/3:2025cv00674/55014

PACER: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/59485483/Fetzer,_James_v_Rumble,_Inc

DOWNLOAD HERE: Rumble Complaint

Rumble Amended Statement of Claims

Legal documents concerning the case against BitChute (Deep State Protocol LLC) can be read here:

JUSTIA: https://dockets.justia.com/docket/wisconsin/wiwdc/3:2025cv00663/54995:

PACER:https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/59429660/Fetzer,_James_v_Deep_State_Protocol,_LLC

DOWNLOAD HERE: BitChute (Deep State Protocol LLC) Complaint

BitChute Amended Statement of Claim

Request to Amend Amended Statement of Claim

 

SUMMARY: Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer and McKnight Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota Duluth, lagged the content, served the platforms with Cease-and-Desist notices, and filed affidavits with the court, citing examples of the abuse and specific violations of both the user agreements and the law. The platforms have refused to moderate the content or respond to the complaints, prompting Fetzer to file suit this month to force BitChute and Rumble to comply with their own user agreements with regards to unlawful and harmful speech.

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