Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Joins Legal Fight Against YouTube Over Crypto Scams
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Sues YouTube Over Crypto Scams
Lawyers for Steve Wozniak and 17 other people adversely affected by Bitcoin giveaway scams on YouTube have sued the platform and parent company Google for not taking quick action to ban such content.
According to a July 22 announcement from the law firm of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, Google and its subsidiary YouTube failed to protect users from fake Bitcoin (BTC) giveaway scam channels featuring images and videos of Wozniak and other celebrities. The hacked channels run “giveaway” scams claiming that anyone who sends crypto to a specified address will get much more crypto in return, when they actually get nothing.
“If YouTube had acted quickly to stop this to a reasonable extent, we would not be here now,” said Wozniak.
“YouTube, like Google, seems to rely on algorithms and no special effort requiring custom software was employed quickly in these cases of criminal activity. If a crime is being committed, you must be able to reach humans capable of stopping it. What human would see posts like these and not ban them as criminal immediately?”
Joe Cotchett, one of the partners at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, argued that YouTube “knowingly allowed the Bitcoin scam to go on for months, promoted it, and profited from it by selling targeted advertising.”
The complaint comprises Steve Wozniak and 17 others from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Japan, Malaysia, China, and Europe who fell victim to the crypto scams promoted on YouTube.
Apple and Ripple
Wozniak’s lawsuit comes a day after YouTube’s dismissal bid in a similar case initiated by Ripple Labs. The crypto company sued the platform for its alleged failure to stop XRP scammers and impersonators.
However, in a July 21 statement, YouTube’s legal team stated that the video sharing platform can not be liable for any content — including scams — published by third parties.
Unlike Ripple’s case, which was filed in federal court, Wozniak’s legal team will be heard by a judge in the Superior Court of the State of California in the County of San Mateo, a state-run court.
