Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Google to pay more than $500,000 in damages to a politician after finding he suffered defamation for videos posted on the YouTube platform owned by the American internet giant.
In a series of publications in 2020, comedian Jordan Shanks accused the then Prime Minister of New South Wales, John Barilaro, of corruption, imitating an Italian accent to mock his origins.
Barilaro, who retired from politics this year, claimed the videos were racist and left him traumatized. He denounced the American company for failing to take down the offending videos when his lawyers submitted a petition in December 2020.
The court found that publishing the videos on Google’s platform led to the politician’s premature resignation and considerably traumatized him.
In its review, the court notes that Shanks “needed YouTube to spread his venom” and claims that Google was willing to team up with the comedian to earn revenue as part of its business model.
AFP reached out to Google for comment on the case, but has not received a response so far.
Barilaro concluded at the end of last year an out-of-court settlement with the comedian, who pledged to publicly apologize and edit the videos that have registered more than one million views on YouTube.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
