Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2020
Former YouTube moderator files lawsuit alleging employee-protection failures
Lawsuit filed
A former content moderator filed a lawsuit against YouTube alleging that the company failed to protect employees who reviewed violent videos. The suit further alleged that working conditions and the support provided to moderators contributed to harm. These are claims made in the lawsuit and have not been established as findings. The event concerns allegations raised in litigation rather than confirmed outcomes.
A former content moderator sued YouTube, alleging that it failed to protect employees who reviewed violent videos. The lawsuit also alleged that working conditions and support for moderators contributed to harm; these are claims in the suit, not established findings.
Source excerpt
In the lawsuit that was filed on Monday, the plaintiff, who is referred to as “Jane Doe” throughout the document, claimed that they were required to watch videos of murder, child rape, abortions and suicide, during their time working for YouTube.
A former content moderator for YouTube has sued the video-sharing platform, and accused it of failing to protect employees whose job it is to remove violent videos posted on the site.
“She has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares. She often lays awake at night trying to go to sleep, replaying videos that she has seen in her mind,” says the lawsuit, which was filed in a California superior court on Monday.
2020
UK lawsuit alleges YouTube violated children’s privacy
Lawsuit filed
In a UK class-action-style lawsuit, Hausfeld and Foxglove alleged that YouTube collected children’s data without parental consent and used it for targeted advertising. The claim sought more than £2.5 billion in damages. The source article does not report a court determination on the allegations.
Source excerpt
YouTube“系统性地违反了相关法律，在没有获得父母事先同意的情况下，对儿童用户的数据进行收集。”
据报道，Alphabet 旗下的谷歌在英国面临着一项诉讼
本次诉讼代表了 500 多万名 13 岁以下的儿童及其父母，提起方为隐私活动家邓肯 · 麦肯（Duncan McCann）
2020
YouTube apologizes over tweet mocking creators
Company response
YouTube apologized and deleted a tweet from its official account that mocked creators for making videos it described as too long. In a follow-up tweet, the platform said the original was posted in good faith but missed the mark and did not reflect the creator community’s spirit.
Company response
Apology — YouTube
YouTube has apologised and deleted a tweet from its official Twitter account in which it mocked content creators for making videos that were too long.
Source excerpt
In a follow-up tweet to its 72 million followers, the platform said the original had been posted in "good faith... but we missed the mark and did not reflect the spirit of the creator community".
YouTube has apologised and deleted a tweet from its official Twitter account in which it mocked content creators for making videos that were too long.
2019
COPPA privacy settlement
The Federal Trade Commission announced a $170 million settlement with Google and YouTube over allegations that personal information was collected from children under 13 without the consent required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The settlement required changes to children's privacy practices and helped trigger later treatment of made-for-kids videos.
2019
YouTube settles DMCA abuse dispute with Christopher Brady
Settlement
YouTube settled its dispute with Christopher Brady, who was accused of extorting users through bogus copyright claims. Brady agreed to pay $25,000 and offered a public apology; the proposed judgment and injunction had not yet been signed by the court.
Source excerpt
YouTube has settled its DMCA abuse dispute with Nebraska-resident Christopher Brady.
The scammer in question pretended that he was the legitimate owner of the videos uploaded by the users and requested money to retract the false claims.
The proposed judgment and injunction have yet to be signed off by the court, but this is expected to happen later this week.
2019
Indian court rules YouTube and Google liable in copyright case
Ruling
A local court ruled that YouTube and Google were liable for infringing filmmaker Suneel Darshan's copyrights, ordered compensation, and required YouTube to prevent similar infringements going forward. The verdict was reported as subject to likely appeal.
Source excerpt
YouTube and Google are liable for infringing the copyrights of Indian filmmaker Suneel Darshan, a local court has ruled. The video platform was ordered to pay compensation and must prevent similar infringements going forward.
2019
YouTube Rewind 2019 receives negative user reviews
Public backlash
YouTube's 2019 Rewind video received widespread negative reviews from users after its release.
Source excerpt
今次 Rewind 短片推出後自然劣評如潮，不少人認爲 Rewind 已經沒有了以前的吸引力
2019
YouTube files lawsuit against Omaha man over DMCA and strike-system allegations
Lawsuit filed
YouTube filed a lawsuit against Christopher Brady, alleging that he violated the DMCA and abused YouTube’s copyright strike system. The article also reports YouTube’s allegation that Brady operated under 15 online accounts and extorted at least one other YouTuber.
Source excerpt
In August, the digital giant filed a lawsuit against Christopher Brady for violating the DMCA and abusing their strike system.
In the lawsuit, YouTube alleges Brady operated under 15 different online accounts and extorted at least one other YouTuber.
2018
Child-directed content and safety criticism
YouTube faced sustained criticism over disturbing, violent, sexually suggestive, or otherwise inappropriate videos that appeared to target children or used child-oriented characters and presentation. The controversy raised questions about recommendation systems, moderation quality, advertising incentives, and the adequacy of YouTube Kids safeguards.
2011
Viacom copyright litigation
Viacom alleged that YouTube was responsible for widespread infringement involving user-uploaded clips. The dispute became a landmark test of intermediary liability and copyright safe-harbor protections for online video platforms. Appellate rulings ultimately favored YouTube, but the case intensified scrutiny of its takedown and rights-management systems.