YouTube suspends Ripple’s tech chief days after filing lawsuit over XRP fraud

YouTube has suspended Ripple CTO David Schwartz’s channel shortly after the blockchain company filed a lawsuit against the channel for XRP fraud in videos.

Schwartz, who also goes by the online name “Joel Katz,” said Wednesday morning that YouTube had suspended his channel. “Funny enough, YouTube just decided to suspend my channel (SJoelKatz) for identity fraud. I wonder who they think I was impersonating,” he said. tweeted.

CoinDesk reached out to Schwartz for comment but did not receive one by press time.

Related: SEC opposes Blockchain Association’s letter supporting Kik, says group is not ‘neutral’

YouTube can “close” channels that violate the platform’s policies, such as predatory behavior, hate speech, harassment, or impersonation. Channel owners are prohibited from creating new channels, but they are allowed to appeal if they believe their channel was suspended or closed in error.

See also: Ripple engineers publish draft for private transactions in the XRP ledger

Wednesday’s events come a week after Ripple filed a lawsuit against YouTube, alleging that the platform failed to prevent scams involving fake XRP gifts on the platform. The lawsuit states that YouTube’s unwillingness to ban fraudulent channels resulted in users being defrauded of hundreds of thousands of dollars and Ripple suffering reputational damage.

“Ripple has repeatedly demanded that YouTube take action to stop the fraud and prevent further harm. Yet YouTube refuses, even when the same scheme is repeated over and over again on its platform. YouTube’s response has been completely inadequate and incomplete. As a result, Ripple and Mr. Garlinghouse continue to suffer significant reputational harm,” the lawsuit states.

Related: SEC and Kik continue court battle over $100 million Kin token sale

See also: Third-party cryptocurrencies could be introduced on the XRP ledger, says Ripple’s David Schwartz

Schwartz’s channel has been active for years, so the timing of the ban is interesting, coming so close to the start of the court case. Of course, it could be because YouTube’s moderation algorithms are failing once again.

CoinDesk reached out to YouTube for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

similar posts