Steve Wozniak sued YouTube and Google over crypto scams

Steve Wozniak, the Apple co-founder, has sued Google and Youtube for allowing Bitcoin giveaway scams that impersonate him to operate on their platform.

He filed the lawsuit against Google’s Youtube in a Superior Court of the State of California. 17 other individuals followed him in the suit. Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy represent them as they are seeking damages for giveaway scams that have been running on Google’s YouTube platform for months.

The lawsuit alleged that scammers also exploited the profile and likeness of other well-known tech entrepreneurs in the giveaway scams. This includes Tesla’s Elon Musk, Michael Dell, and billionaire Bill Gates.

Furthermore, in the lawsuit, Steve Wozniak accused the video-sharing giant of not doing enough to prevent the stealing of millions of dollars in crypto coins in such schemes.

The Apple co-founder also stated that the giveaway scams caused harm to his and the other 17 individuals’ reputations. He also claims that Google and YouTube actively promoted and profited from the defamation. They knowingly provided targeted advertising for the scammers according to him.

If Youtube had acted swiftly to prevent these scams to an extent, we won’t be in this current situation. This was Steve Wozniak’s declaration on the subject. YouTube and Google need to employ better algorithms and added special efforts like building custom software to eradicate these cases of criminal activity.

Ripple has also sued YouTube

The video-sharing giant is currently in a lawsuit served by Ripple Labs, and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Ripple accused YouTube of not preventing XRP giveaway scams on its platform. As a result, users lost money, and Ripple’s reputation felt a drop.

Ripple issued sets of outright demands for Youtube to abide by in its lawsuit. This includes being more proactive and aggressive in identifying these giveaway scams. Brad Garlinghouse also demanded that Youtube remove the scams immediately when identified and not profit from them.

In response to these accusations, the video platform recently filed a motion to dismiss Ripple’s lawsuit, declaring that it isn’t liable for crypto scammers using its platform. According to Youtube, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects it from Ripple’s allegations. The court should thus dismiss the case.