Blockchain company Ripple has filed a complaint with the US district court in Northern California accusing video-sharing platform YouTube of not taking action against fake crypto scam accounts on its platform. Ripple said that the scam has caused “irreparable harm” to its public image, brand, and reputation because YouTube failed to address the issue. The XRP giveaway promotions have involved hacked YouTube accounts, promising free XRP in return for a small initial payment.
Ripple alleges that victims have been defrauded out of millions of XRP by fake giveaways.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in a series of tweets, revealed that they are taking legal action against the world’s leading video sharing platform for not taking down crypto scam accounts that impersonate Ripple.
Today, @Ripple and I personally are taking legal action against @YouTube because their platform is the epicenter for imposter scams, and they’ve done next to nothing in response to our constant takedown requests. (2/4) https://t.co/EexfseYdDK
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) April 21, 2020
Ripple said that it had submitted 350 complaints about bad actors operating on YouTube’s platform. “Across the industry, social media companies have failed to police their platforms from being abused by the entirely preventable imposter giveaway scams,” the CEO of Ripple tweeted. He added that YouTube’s inertia is indicative of an industry-wide problem of a lack of accountability. According to Ripple, millions of XRP worth, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been defrauded from victims.
Across the industry, social media companies have failed to police their platforms from being abused by the entirely preventable imposter giveaway scams. Hundreds of people (including some of you) have been hurt, yet big tech continues to drag their feet. (1/4)
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) April 21, 2020
YouTube continues to face backlash from the crypto community over censorship issues.
Censorship on YouTube has been a subject of debate in the crypto community for many months now. On the one hand, Ripple complained that YouTube failed to take measures to take down fake crypto accounts, and on the other genuine crypto content creators are being taken down from the largest video sharing platform without any reason. In the last few months, YouTube has censored many crypto content creators and taken down their channels without any warning or prior strikes. Ripple CEO also said that in times like these, when consumers already feel vulnerable, it’s more important than ever to protect people from these rampant scams. Crypto community showed support to Brad Garlinghouse’s decision to take legal actions against the video-sharing platform.
