Ripple, an American blockchain company focusing on payments technologies, has announced a lawsuit against the video sharing giant YouTube.
"Today, we are taking legal action against YouTube to prompt an industry wide-behavior change and set the expectation of accountability," the company announced on its website, adding that "YouTube and other big technology and social media platforms must be held accountable for not implementing sufficient processes for fighting [scams]."
The lawsuit demands that Youtube:
- Must be more aggressive and proactive in identifying scams, before they’re posted.
- Must remove scams once they are identified.
- Must not profit from these scams.
Ripple complained that the company and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, have “suffered harm to public image, brand and reputation as a result of YouTube’s failure to address fraud and misinformation, despite requests for removal.”
Ripple claims that there have been multiple scams and giveaways with Ripple’s name attached to them, but that they have defrauded hundreds of unsuspecting people, “resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars” and even entire life’s savings for some people.
The company adds that YouTube and its owner Google in general have been very slow to react to the proliferation of fake news, deepfakes and “manipulated media,” etc., saying that the tech giant reacts only “when public scrutiny reaches epic proportions.”
We asked both Ripple and YouTube for comment and will update the article should they reply.
Fake and scam crypto YouTube channels are unfortunately not any news. Ripple supporters have been alerting the Cryptoverse of XRP/Ripple-related scams on YouTube throughout the years. Just recently, in late March, Andy V, co-founder of crypto podcast S.P.Q.R. Media, found a channel with 276,000 subscribers, impersonating Garlinghouse to promote an airdrop scam of XRP. Per Andy, it was even being funded to be promoted on YouTube. The scammer allegedly requested thousands of dollars worth of deposits for participation.
We’ve noticed an uptick in fraudulent communications claiming to be @Ripple or members of the Ripple leadership team offering giveaways, particularly around #SwellbyRipple. Be on alert - these are fraudulent and are not official accounts. https://t.co/qVZhgVwmcN
— Ripple (@Ripple) November 8, 2019
"Since Ripple’s founding, we have requested the removal of countless fake ads and posts that promise the giveaway of free —an open-source, decentralized digital asset built for cross-border payments," wrote Ripple following this incident in "how to spot XRP giveaway scams" post. "To date, these scams have defrauded victims out of hundreds of thousands of XRP, valued at tens of thousands of dollars. [...] In a nascent industry where trust is paramount, these scams only impede the industry’s progress and reputation."
Meanwhile, Ripple is still dealing with its own legal issues. As reported, investors sued Ripple, its CEO and executives in 2018, alleging that the company persuaded them to purchase , resulting in loss of money, that Ripple violated U.S. securities laws by selling XRP, and that XRP should be declared a security.
Cryptonews.com also reported on the ongoing battle between crypto-related content creators and YouTube, with the platform taking down a number of crypto-related videos and channels since last year, later admitting their mistake. Nonetheless, such content is still regularly taken down and often returned following numerous complaints.
