Ripple Settles Youtube Lawsuit Over XRP Giveaway Scam

Ripple- a San Francisco-based blockchain company, announced that the company has resolved the lawsuit filed against the Google-owned video-sharing platform YouTube. Ripple and its CEO- Brad Garlinghouse, filed this lawsuit in April 2020 to allow fake accounts that impersonated Garlinghouse to conduct XRP giveaway scams.

Since the start of 2020, online scams related to cryptocurrencies are on the rise. As the cryptocurrency market is growing, scammers are finding new ways to steal funds. For a long time, scammers used to impersonate high-profile members of the cryptocurrency community on YouTube. They even hijacked verified Twitter accounts, changed their names and promoted cryptocurrency giveaway scams. 

Ripple and its CEO sued YouTube and claimed their failure caused “irreparable harm to their public image, brand, and reputation.” This complaint described YouTube’s inaction as “deliberate and inexplicable.”

The complaint even pointed out YouTube for not meeting its community guidelines’ standards to keep scammers and impersonators away. The complaint asserted that Ripple had informed YouTube of scammers claiming to give away free XRP on “countless occasions,” including from legitimate YouTube channels that were hacked and used as scam-platforms.

As per the official statement of Garlinghouse, Ripple and YouTube will work together and detect XRP scams. Gralinghouse also said that social media platforms play an essential role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. He also appreciated XRP Forensics’ efforts to detect and prevent financial crime on the XRP Ledger.

Additionally, Garlinghouse shared this settlement will see both companies to fund a non-profit organization dedicated to helping cybercrime victims. He also affirmed to be open to calls for reforming Section 230 - a law protecting tech giants from being liable for the users’ behaviour. Initially, Ripple’s lawsuit against YouTube was dismissed by a judge who cited Section 230 and concluded that YouTube was also a victim of the hijacking somehow.