{"url_path":"/sec/rum/10-q/2026/item-1","section_key":"item-1","section_title":"Item 1 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.**","topic":"sec","document":{"doc_type":"10-Q","doc_date":"2026-05-14","source_url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1830081/0001213900-26-056616-index.html","accession_number":"0001213900-26-056616","cik":"0001830081","ticker":"RUM","issuer_name":"RUM Group Inc.","edgar_url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1830081/0001213900-26-056616-index.html","primary_entity_key":"0001830081","primary_entity_name":"Rumble Inc."},"word_count":1419,"has_tables":true,"body_markdown":"**ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.**\n\n** **\n\nWe are, and from time to\ntime may become, involved in various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of our business activities, such as copyright infringement\nand tort claims arising from user-uploaded content, patent infringement claims, breach of contract claims, government demands, putative\nclass actions based upon consumer protection or privacy laws and other matters. The amounts that may be recovered in such matters may\nbe subject to insurance coverage.\n\n \n\n*Proceedings as Plaintiff*\n\n \n\nIn January 2021, we filed\nan antitrust lawsuit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Google unlawfully\ngives an advantage to its YouTube platform over Rumble in search engine results and in the mobile phone market. The lawsuit seeks compensatory\ndamages and injunctive relief. In June 2021, Google filed a partial motion to dismiss the lawsuit and a motion to strike; in July 2022,\nthe court denied Google’s motion. Discovery has concluded, and the court heard argument on Google’s motion for summary judgment\nin February 2025. The trial was scheduled for July 7, 2025. On May 21, 2025, the court granted Google’s motion for summary judgment\non statute of limitations grounds and dismissed the case. The Company filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth\nCircuit. In addition, the Company filed a notice of motion for an indicative ruling on a request for recusal and reassignment on the\ngrounds that the District Court’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned in light of newly discovered facts. The District\nCourt deferred to rule on that motion, leaving it to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to render its determination. A determination\nhas not yet been rendered.\n\n \n\nIn May 2024, we filed a second\nantitrust lawsuit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California related to Google’s monopolization\nof the online advertising market. This lawsuit is separate and distinct from the self-preferencing lawsuit filed in January 2021. The\nlawsuit seeks compensatory damages and injunctive relief. In August 2024, we filed an amended complaint, and in September 2024, Google\nfiled a motion to dismiss. In December 2024, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) transferred the case to the existing\nproceeding, In re: Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation (JPML No. 3010). After common questions of fact are resolved in the\nMultidistrict Litigation proceeding, this case would be transferred back to the Northern District of California for trial. A second amended\ncomplaint was filed in April 2025. Google sought leave to file a motion to dismiss, which motion was filed on August 1, 2025. The Company’s\nresponse to such motion to dismiss was filed on October 3, 2025. In January 2026, the Court granted in part and denied in part Google’s\nmotion. The Company’s third amended complaint was filed on March 3, 2026. The case is ongoing.\n\n \n\nAlong with co-plaintiff Eugene\nVolokh, in December 2022, we filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to block the enforcement\nof New York State’s Social Media Law. In February 2023, the court granted our motion for a preliminary injunction, halting enforcement\nof the law. The New York Attorney General appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In its decision,\nthe court certified certain questions regarding the interpretation of the law to the New York Court of Appeals. The Company’s brief\nwas filed with the State of New York Court of Appeals on February 4, 2026. The case is ongoing and the injunction remains in place while\nthe state court reviews.\n\n \n\nIn November 2024, we filed\na lawsuit against the California Attorney General and Secretary of State in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California\nto enjoin the enforcement of AB 2655, a recently enacted state law regulating online platforms. The law would require online platforms\nto receive reports about posts related to elections, public officials, and candidates for office that are deemed “materially deceptive,”\nthen remove or label the content. Our lawsuit was consolidated with similar lawsuits filed by other affected online platforms and content\ncreators, and the state of California has agreed to enjoin the enforcement of the law during the initial phases of the litigation. The\nplaintiffs’ summary judgment motions were filed on March 7, 2025. A further stay of enforcement was issued by the court through\nOctober 25, 2025. The summary judgment hearing took place on August 5, 2025. The judge granted our summary judgment motion from the bench.\nHe ruled that Section 230 preempted all of AB 2655 and subsequently issued a permanent injunction against the enforcement of AB2655.\nThe state of California filed its appeal brief on January 12, 2026, to which the Company filed its response on March 11, 2026. The case\nis ongoing.\n\n \n\n37\n\n \n\n \n\nIn February 2025, Rumble\nfiled a complaint and a request for a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District\nof Florida against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes related to content blocking orders issued by him against Rumble.\nThe court denied, without prejudice, Rumble’s motion for a TRO on the grounds that the matter was not ripe for judicial review.\nThe court noted that Justice Moraes’s pronouncements and directives had not been properly served on Rumble, that Rumble was not\nobligated to comply with such pronouncements and directives, and that no U.S. entity was required to enforce them. We filed an amended\ncomplaint on June 6, 2025 and a motion for alternative service on February 2, 2026. The case is ongoing.\n\n \n\nIn April 2025, along with\nRebel News, we filed a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Canada, Canada Lands Company, and others alleging that\nthe defendants tried to block two lawful and peaceful public gatherings celebrating free speech in the Toronto area in 2024. Certain\nparties have been removed from the action. The case is ongoing.\n\n \n\n*Proceedings as Defendant*\n\n \n\nIn January 2022, we received\nnotification of a lawsuit filed by Kosmayer Investment Inc. (“KII”) against Rumble and Mr. Pavlovski in the Ontario Superior\nCourt of Justice, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation in connection with KII’s decision to redeem its shares of Rumble in August\n2020. KII is seeking rescission of such redemption such that, following such rescission, KII would own 20% of the issued and outstanding\nshares of Rumble or, in the alternative, damages for the lost value of the redeemed shares, which KII has alleged to be worth $419.0\nmillion (based on the value ascribed to the shares of Rumble in the Business Combination), together with other damages including punitive\ndamages and costs. The case is currently in discovery. A mediation session was held in April 2025. No settlement was reached. The case\nis ongoing.\n\n \n\nIn October 2024, plaintiff\nDavid Stebbins filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware naming Rumble Inc. and an unaffiliated entity\ndoing business as “The Specter Report” as defendants. Mr. Stebbins, who is not represented by counsel, alleges six counts\nof copyright infringement and one count of slander and seeks injunctive relief and $900,000 in damages from Rumble. We were never formally\nserved with the lawsuit. The court dismissed the case against the Company in May 2025. The plaintiff has since petitioned the court to\nreopen the case against the Company.\n\n \n\nIn June 2025, we were served\nwith a lawsuit from an individual named Michael Goldstein, alleging that the Company violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act\nby improperly disclosing personally identifiable information by way of the Facebook Pixel. The case was brought in a California state\ncourt. The case was removed to federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The Company filed a motion\nto dismiss on August 18, 2025, which the Court granted, with leave to amend. On December 5, 2025, the Plaintiff filed his amended complaint\nand the Company filed its Motion to Dismiss on January 26, 2026. A hearing took place on April 20, 2026, pursuant to which the motion\nwas denied. The Company’s answer is due May 22, 2026.\n\n \n\nAs to each of the above lawsuits,\nthe Company believes it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted and intends to defend itself vigorously. However, litigation\nis inherently unpredictable, and we cannot predict the outcome of these matters. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate the possible\nloss or range of loss, if any, and accordingly no liability has been recorded.\n\n \n\n38"}