What the Woz Wants He May Not Get
August 24, 2020
There is a popular argument that cars do not kill, rather it is the people driving the cars that kill. The car is only a tool, while people cause the actual harm. The same argument could be used for YouTube in regard to videos that spread conspiracy theories, hatred, and scams. The AP News reports that, “Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Slams YouTube For Scam Videos.”
Steve Wozniak’s image and name were used in a bitcoin scam via YouTube and he is taking Google, YouTube’s parent company, to court. Wozniak claims that millions of dollars were stolen from around the globe. His suit is not only for himself, but also for seventeen other people, ten of which are located outside the US. The exact scam is described as:
“The 47-page complaint revolves around a ruse that has used images of Wozniak and high-tech celebrities such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to trick people out of the digital currency Bitcoin. Videos spread on YouTube as part of the scheme entice viewers to send their bitcoins to an anonymous digital address, promising to return double that amount. The return payment never arrives.”
Wozniak has tried since May to get Google and YouTube to prevent the scam from using his picture and name. He compares trying to stop these scams to Whack-A-Mole: when one scam is taken down, another appears. Wozniak has been unable to receive human assistance from Google or YouTube and he does not want to pull strings to receive special treatment.
Lawyer Joseph Cotchett, along with his client Wozniak, want YouTube and parent company Google to do more to stop fraudulent activity. YouTube states it removed 2.2 million scam videos and deleted 1.7 million associated accounts in January-March 2020, but the platform has yet to comment about Wozniak’s charges.
Google earned $15 billion in scam related ad revenue last year, so there is motive for YouTube to turn a blind eye.
Google and its related companies might not do evil, but they do allow bad actors to use its tools and services for evil acts.
Whitney Grace, August 24, 2020
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