Court orders Google to turn over docs on choking free speech competition
Google's argument for dismissing an antitrust lawsuit by YouTube competitor Rumble — a haven for unfettered discussions about COVID-19, election fraud and Ukraine-Russia relations — so perplexed a federal judge that he took only eight pages to reject Google's motion.
"Without real dispute," Rumble has adequately alleged that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam wrote Friday, questioning Google's "somewhat counterintuitive premise that [Rumble] has pled too much."
It's the third censorship-related lawsuit against Big Tech pillars to win approval for legal discovery in recent months.
Last month, a federal judge ordered that social media companies Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and YouTube must turn over documents and answer questions in a suit alleging collusion between the companies and the Biden administration to censor "disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content" on their platforms.
Twitter let former New York Times journalist Alex Berenson back on the platform last month to settle his advancing breach-of-contract suit.
YouTube has particularly targeted videos that challenge COVID orthodoxy, removing public meetings where COVID policy is debated, science-based criticisms of COVID mitigations by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and a parent's criticisms of school COVID policy. It also labeled an anti-Biden rap song as "medical misinformation."
Rumble can now obtain internal Google documents on "algorithmic manipulation of its search engine" and requirements that "all but force" companies reliant on its infrastructure to use YouTube, lawyer Glenn Greenwald, a progressive critic of censorship and prominent Rumble user, wrote in his newsletter Saturday.
Rumble in the jungle: Court orders Google to turn over docs on choking free speech competition | Just The News
Google's argument for dismissing an antitrust lawsuit by YouTube competitor Rumble — a haven for unfettered discussions about COVID-19, election fraud and Ukraine-Russia relations — so perplexed a federal judge that he took only eight pages to reject Google's motion.
"Without real dispute," Rumble has adequately alleged that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam wrote Friday, questioning Google's "somewhat counterintuitive premise that [Rumble] has pled too much."
It's the third censorship-related lawsuit against Big Tech pillars to win approval for legal discovery in recent months.
Last month, a federal judge ordered that social media companies Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and YouTube must turn over documents and answer questions in a suit alleging collusion between the companies and the Biden administration to censor "disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content" on their platforms.
Twitter let former New York Times journalist Alex Berenson back on the platform last month to settle his advancing breach-of-contract suit.
YouTube has particularly targeted videos that challenge COVID orthodoxy, removing public meetings where COVID policy is debated, science-based criticisms of COVID mitigations by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and a parent's criticisms of school COVID policy. It also labeled an anti-Biden rap song as "medical misinformation."
Rumble can now obtain internal Google documents on "algorithmic manipulation of its search engine" and requirements that "all but force" companies reliant on its infrastructure to use YouTube, lawyer Glenn Greenwald, a progressive critic of censorship and prominent Rumble user, wrote in his newsletter Saturday.
Rumble in the jungle: Court orders Google to turn over docs on choking free speech competition | Just The News
