According to a report by Reclaim the Net, a German court has just fined YouTube 100,000 Euros (Approximately US$118,000) for taking down a video of people protesting against the COVID lockdowns in neighbouring Switzerland.
When YouTube took down the video back in April 2020, the Dresden court ordered YouTube to immediately restore the video, but YouTube ignored the court’s ruling for nearly a month before finally restoring it on May 14, 2020.
Ruling that YouTube’s behaviour was “deliberate and serious violation,” the court fined the social media behemoth.
YouTube argued that its “medical misinformation policy” was above the laws of Germany. The court disagreed.
READ: YouTube fined 100,000 Euro after German court rejects its “misinformation” excuse for deleting anti-lockdown protest video
The manager of the channel censored by YouTube tweeted several responses to the recent court ruling:
English translation: “Joachim Steinhöfel: ‘With the historically high fine, the Higher Regional Court makes it very clear that court decisions must be observed without restriction, regardless of whether YouTube assumes a violation of its guidelines or not.'”
Rough English translation: “Does it go according to the “guidelines” of @YouTube, dictatorships in Germany have a say in freedom of expression. absurd? by no means. The Higher Regional Court of Dresden is now ensuring clear conditions with a historically high fine obtained by us.”
OpentheWord.org 