Judge Rules In Favor Of YouTube In Crypto Scam Lawsuit Filed By Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak

A Santa Clara court ruled in favor of Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) GOOG YouTube in a crypto-scam-related case filed by Apple Inc AAPL co-founder Steve Wozniak.

What Happened: In a lawsuit filed in July 2020, Wozniak, along with 17 other plaintiffs, alleged that Youtube and Google were liable for their part in not preventing fake Bitcoin and crypto giveaway scams.

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"If YouTube had acted quickly to stop this to a reasonable extent, we would not be here now,” said Wozniak.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the tentative ruling by a California state judge found that YouTube and its parent company Alphabet Inc GOOGL were protected by a federal law that shields internet platform’s from responsibility for content posted by users.

Why It Matters: Crypto giveaway scams have been a recurring theme in the past year, and according to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) estimations, people have lost over $80 million in scams associated with crypto since October 2020.

The FTC also found that impersonators of Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk alone managed to dupe investors out of $2 million over the past six months.

“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?" said Wozniak after filing the initial complaint.

Read also: Apple's Steve Wozniak Sues YouTube Alleging Inaction On Bitcoin Fraud

Based on the current ruling, these factors alone were not enough to challenge YouTube’s immunity provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Wozniak and his lawyers will now have 30 days to file a revised complaint.

Image: Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons