Ellis George today filed a class action against YouTube and its parent Google on behalf of eight LGBTQ+ content creators and other members of the LGBTQ+ YouTube community. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Jose, California, claims YouTube restricts viewership and monetization of LGBTQ+ content by engaging in unlawful animus-based content restrictions and filtering practices. The LGBTQ+ plaintiffs say YouTube brands their videos as “shocking,” “offensive,” and “sexually explicit” not because of the videos’ content itself, but because of their viewpoints and identity as members of the LGBTQ+ community. According to the complaint, in 2017, YouTube publicly admitted it had been improperly censoring LGBTQ+ videos and promised to fix the problem. But instead of fulfilling its promise, the plaintiffs say, YouTube and Google “doubled down on their anti-LGBTQ+ animus and discrimination.” The plaintiffs seek compensation for lost income and reduced viewership and a court order compelling YouTube and Google to stop their unlawful discriminatory practices. Peter Obstler and Debi Ramos are primarily handling the matter for Ellis George.
- LGBTQ+ plaintiffs file class action against Google/YouTube to stop discriminatory, animus-based, and unlawful content based regulation, restraint, monetization, false advertising, and anti-competitive distribution of LGBTQ+ speech and video content. Please click the link below to view the Complaint:
- Eight LGBTQ+ Video Content Creators File Class Action Lawsuit vs. Google/YouTube. Please click the link below to view the Press Release:
- To listen to the Google AdWords call in which Defendants discriminate against our client based on sexual orientation and identity, click here:
