YouTube Accused of Discriminating Against Conservative Videos
The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf or Prager University, a nonprofit digital media outfit co-founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager.
October 24, 2017 at 04:56 PM
7 minute read
Former California Gov. Pete Wilson and his colleagues at Browne George Ross have filed a First Amendment lawsuit claiming YouTube and Google are discriminating against videos that offer conservative commentary on current and historical events.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf or Prager University, a nonprofit digital media outfit co-founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager. PragerU claims YouTube and its officials have age-restricted some of its videos for no reason, and prevented them from generating ad revenue.
Google and YouTube representatives didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reach by phone Tuesday morning, Wilson said he's heard for some time that Google and YouTube suppress conservative speech on the internet and that the lawsuit “is the right case at the right time.”
Wilson said the case has parallels to a topic Prager champions, the dearth of conservative voices on U.S. college campuses.
“YouTube has been denying access to its platform which is infinitely greater,” Wilson said.
Former California Governor Pete Wilson.The suit claims YouTube essentially functions as a public forum for video content on the web, and that by placing ad and age restrictions on PragerU content, the site assumed ”an exclusively and traditionally public function by regulating free speech within a public forum.”
“PragerU has repeatedly asked what it could do differently, or how it could change its videos so that they could be unrestricted or re-monetized, but Google/YouTube have never meaningfully answered those questions,” wrote the Brown George Ross lawyers, including San Francisco litigator Peter Obstler.
The complaint points out that YouTube publicly admitted in March that it improperly censored videos posted or produced by members of the LGBTQ community based on the orientation of the speaker rather than the content of the video. PragerU claims that it was rebuffed by YouTube officials after asking for a similar review to see if its videos were censored inappropriately.
The complaint includes a large selection of PragerU videos that have been restricted along with other videos on the same topic from other accounts which have not. The suit also points out that 10 videos that were created by PragerU that have been copied and posted by other YouTube users have not been tagged with the same restrictions as the originals posted by PragerU.
“When compared with the litany of unrestricted videos posted by other speakers that contain similar or identical content and differ only in the perspective or identity of the speaker, Google/YouTube's censorship of PragerU videos smacks of discrimination and animus arising solely from the political identity and perspective of its speakers, some of whom are identified with and espouse views and analysis that are considered to be 'conservative' on the American political spectrum,” PragerU's lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit claims that YouTube and Google have violated PragerU's First Amendment rights as well as the more expansive free speech rights afforded under California's state constitution. PragerU also claims that YouTube's actions have violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and Business and Professions Code.
Former California Gov. Pete Wilson and his colleagues at
The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf or Prager University, a nonprofit digital media outfit co-founded by conservative talk show host Dennis Prager. PragerU claims YouTube and its officials have age-restricted some of its videos for no reason, and prevented them from generating ad revenue.
Reach by phone Tuesday morning, Wilson said he's heard for some time that
Wilson said the case has parallels to a topic Prager champions, the dearth of conservative voices on U.S. college campuses.
“YouTube has been denying access to its platform which is infinitely greater,” Wilson said.
Former California Governor Pete Wilson.The suit claims YouTube essentially functions as a public forum for video content on the web, and that by placing ad and age restrictions on PragerU content, the site assumed ”an exclusively and traditionally public function by regulating free speech within a public forum.”
“PragerU has repeatedly asked what it could do differently, or how it could change its videos so that they could be unrestricted or re-monetized, but
The complaint points out that YouTube publicly admitted in March that it improperly censored videos posted or produced by members of the LGBTQ community based on the orientation of the speaker rather than the content of the video. PragerU claims that it was rebuffed by YouTube officials after asking for a similar review to see if its videos were censored inappropriately.
The complaint includes a large selection of PragerU videos that have been restricted along with other videos on the same topic from other accounts which have not. The suit also points out that 10 videos that were created by PragerU that have been copied and posted by other YouTube users have not been tagged with the same restrictions as the originals posted by PragerU.
“When compared with the litany of unrestricted videos posted by other speakers that contain similar or identical content and differ only in the perspective or identity of the speaker, Google/YouTube's censorship of PragerU videos smacks of discrimination and animus arising solely from the political identity and perspective of its speakers, some of whom are identified with and espouse views and analysis that are considered to be 'conservative' on the American political spectrum,” PragerU's lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit claims that YouTube and
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
FTC Decries Social Media Platforms' 'Vast Surveillance' of Users
Trending Stories
- 1Perkins Coie Lures Former Longtime Wilson Sonsini Tech Transactions Partner
- 2‘The Decision Will Help Others’: NJ Supreme Court Reverses Appellate Div. in OPRA Claim Over Body-Worn Camera Footage
- 3MoFo Associate Sees a Familiar Face During Her First Appellate Argument: Justice Breyer
- 4Antitrust in Trump 2.0: Expect Gap Filling from State Attorneys General
- 5People in the News—Jan. 22, 2025—Knox McLaughlin, Saxton & Stump
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
