YouTube Requests Dismissal Of Scam Lawsuit Filed By Ripple

YouTube, the video platform giant, has recently requested that the US federal court dismiss a lawsuit. Particularly, the lawsuit filed against it by Ripple, the distributed ledger startup.

Claiming Damages From Inexplicable Behaviour From YouTube

Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, as well as the startup itself, had started the lawsuit against YouTube back in April this year. According to the lawsuit, it’s alleged that YouTube, owned by Google, had failed to stop scammers from posting fraudulent crypto giveaway videos that leveraged the likeness of Garlinghouse.

At the time, Ripple claimed that both it and Garlinghouse has suffered, and has continued to suffer, irreparable damage to their respective brands, public images, as well as reputation. According to the lawsuit, this occurred as a direct consequence of YouTube’s deliberate and incomprehensible failure to address the extremely pervasive fraud that occurred on its platform.

General Statements Instead Of Direct Ones

The crypto giveaway scam, in particular, involved luring in victims to send their respective cryptocurrencies to an account. The “promise” given to them is that they will receive additional funds in return for this move. Some time ago, Ripple scams were extremely prevalent within the YouTube platform, with the platform itself seemingly lethargic in fixing the matter.

YouTube responded through a statement made in April. There, they stated that they take abuses on their platform extremely seriously. They gave their assurances that they take quick action when something violates their policies. Even so, there wasn’t any direct acknowledgment of what occurred during that time.

Citing History Instead Of Current Events

On the 20th of July, 2020, YouTube responded to the lawsuit, and by responding, they actually filed a motion for dismissal. As the public records show, YouTube’s core argument for this dismissal of Ripple’s case, is that it’s not liable for its content on its site. They cited their previous history of removing any harmful content once they were notified of it, and cited the US Communications Decency Act, Section 230, as justification. This will see YouTube provided with a liability shield against them, in regards to content posted on the platform itself.

It should be noted that they cite historical conduct, instead of justifying their behavior when the event occurred. Something very clearly happened, and YouTube is keen on having this matter swept under the rug. With any luck, it won’t succeed, and the platform can be reminded that it doesn’t have the right to act as it wishes.