Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has emerged victorious in a recent court battle against YouTube regarding the use of manipulated videos featuring his image for a Bitcoin scam in 2020. The latest ruling from the appeals court in San Jose overturned a previous judgment that had cleared YouTube of any responsibility.
According to Bloomberg, the San Jose appeals court determined that YouTube cannot rely on a controversial communications statute to absolve itself of liability for a fraudulent scheme that exploited Wozniak’s popularity by employing a doctored video to deceive individuals.
This new verdict allows Wozniak to continue his lawsuit against the video streaming platform and potentially paves the way for a revision of federal laws that shield video streaming platforms like YouTube from any liability associated with the content posted on their platforms.
In 2020, Wozniak, along with 17 others including Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Michael Dell, filed a lawsuit against YouTube and its parent company, Google, after manipulated videos promoting a fake scam went viral on the platform. These videos added text and images promising free Bitcoin (BTC) and urged viewers to send Bitcoin to a specific address in order to double their money.
The recent ruling from the appeals court is viewed as a significant victory for Wozniak and others involved, as a judge from the Santa Clara County Superior Court had previously ruled in 2022 that the companies were protected from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
The appeals court judges noted that popular YouTube channels are frequently compromised to promote scams. They concluded that Google and YouTube played an active role in the scam by “materially contributing” to it through the provision of verification badges to hijacked YouTube channels. Furthermore, the platform failed to remove these verification badges when the channels began posting scam videos, and one channel even received a verification badge during the scam itself.
Thus, the appeals court determined that companies may not be shielded by Section 230 immunity, as their actions contributed to the scam through the verification process.
Wozniak’s lawyer, Joe Cotchett, emphasized that this verdict underscores the need for social media platforms such as Google and YouTube to take responsibility for their actions and refrain from using Section 230 as an absolute shield for their conduct.
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