YouTube, said to be the most popular video-sharing platform in the world is facing a lawsuit from Ripple on the allegation that it failed to protect consumers from cryptocurrency “giveaway” scams that dupe victims into sending money using fake social media profiles.
Ripple, which was founded in 2012, uses blockchain technology and digital assets to enable financial institutions to send money across borders, instantly, reliably and for fractions of a penny using XRP.
According to the court filling “Over the past several months, Ripple and Mr. Garlinghouse have suffered—and continue to suffer—irreparable harm to their public image, brand, and reputation as a direct consequence of YouTube’s deliberate and inexplicable failure to address a pervasive and injurious fraud occurring on its platform”.
In a Ripple blog post titled “Enough is Enough, Its Time to Protect the community” it said “At Ripple, our company’s foundation is built on trust and transparency. To further build on these principles, we see a dire need—now, more than ever—to protect consumers around the world from dangerous online giveaway scams and false impersonations across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and more.”
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The court filling went further to say that the scammers on YouTube have been impersonating Ripple and it’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse to attract viewers who sent millions of XRP which is the cryptocurrency championed by Ripple worth hundreds of thousand of US dollars.
This lawsuit calls on the video platform, YouTube to do a number of things. First, to be more aggressive and proactive in identifying these scams, before they’re posted. Second, faster removal of these scams once they are identified and lastly, to not profit from these scams.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that “he wants case against YouTube to be call for action for social media industry”. He went on to say that, YouTube is not the only company with cases of impersonation on its platform.
According to him photo sharing app Instagram which is owned by Facebook has similar cases. However, YouTube was targeted in the lawsuit because it was “slowest to respond and least proactive”.
In the complaint filed by Ripple it also said that “Not only has YouTube failed to stop the Scam, YouTube has also substantially assisted it. First, YouTube has profited from the Scam by aiding and abetting the scammers”.
“YouTube, after it was informed about the Scam on countless occasions, sold and helped the scammers disseminate advertisements—so -called “video discovery ads”—to get more YouTube visitors to view and click on videos perpetuating the Scam.
This lawsuit will open a fresh discuss on the controversial Section of the Communications Decency Act, which protects internet companies like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitfrom liability for material that users post on their platforms.
Ripple went further to say that “It’s time to end this unacceptable behaviour and protect our friends, family members and consumers everywhere. YouTube and other big technology and social media platforms must be held accountable for not implementing sufficient processes for fighting these scams.”
“We are here for our community and for everyone, everywhere. Please stay safe, stay healthy and know that actions are being taken to protect you”
Written by
Ifunanya Ikueze
