Ripple settles its lawsuit against YouTube over scam accounts

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Ripple and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse have settled a lawsuit they filed against YouTube in 2020. The lawsuit alleged that YouTube had “feigned ignorance” as XRP scams defrauded millions of dollars on the video sharing platform.

As Garlinghouse revealed on Twitter, Ripple and YouTube have put the issue to bed. “We’ve now come to a resolution to work together to prevent, detect and take down these scams,” he tweeted.

Last year, @Ripple and I sued @YouTube for failing to enforce its own policies by allowing fake accounts (impersonating my/Ripple’s verified accounts) to conduct XRP giveaway scams. We’ve now come to a resolution to work together to prevent, detect and take down these scams. 1/3

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 9, 2021

As CoinGeek reported at the time, Ripple claimed YouTube had “participated in and benefitted from” these scams. Such scams had used the names of Ripple Labs and Garlinghouse to lure unsuspecting targets to send XRP which would purportedly be doubled.

YouTube fought back, claiming that it had no responsibility over what third parties choose to post on its platform. However, in its counter-suit, Ripple insisted that YouTube was just feigning ignorance and being willfully blind as scammers made millions of dollars on its platform.

This legal battle has come to an end. However, Garlinghouse believes that more needs to be done.

“Social platforms are starting to acknowledge their role in allowing crypto scams to persist and recognize the need to be part of the solution. Some like XRP Forensics are helping detect/track stolen funds, but platforms need to lead the charge or it’s still just whack-a-mole,” he stated.

YouTube and Facebook doing the bare minimum

In a follow-up interview, Garlinghouse revealed that YouTube and Ripple will partner to fight cybercrime. They will form a non-profit organization that will focus on helping victims of cybercrimes. He didn’t disclose additional details, including when the organization will launch or how it will operate.

Garlinghouse doubled down on his belief that social media companies are getting away with doing the bare minimum to stop scams on their platforms. In one instance, he personally reported a fake account using his name on Instagram. However, the photo-sharing platform claimed that it had determined the scammer wasn’t impersonating him.

“I’ve been in Silicon Valley for 24 years. All of the major tech platforms need to take ownership of not only the good they’re doing, but how they are being abused,” he stated.

Garlinghouse isn’t the only personality who has sued YouTube over the digital currency impersonation scams. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak joined hands with 17 others to sue YouTube and Google over their laxity in dealing with digital currency scams.

The crypto scam level on Twitter is reaching new levels. This is not cool.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2020

Aside from YouTube, Facebook has also been on the receiving end of lawsuits related to digital currency scams. British personal finance guru Martin Lewis sued the social media giant three years ago for over 50 fake ads using his image. Lewis would later drop the lawsuit.

In 2020, Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana sued Facebook as well for similar crimes. He filed for defamation, false advertising and malicious falsehood in an Irish court.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups-from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.