Google bends the knee.
I know the bet here is settling will cost them less than if they lose at trial, but it still feels like paying an extortioner.
this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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Because that's exactly what it is. Appeasement... Maybe it'll work this time.
It seems less about legal costs and more about siding with the head asshole of the US. The legal expert in the article mentions that all three of the recent lawsuits had no legal merit and likely would have gone nowhere.
My guess is that they’re paying up front now to hopefully get away with something else later.
You could also say they paid the settlement to avoid any risk of creating a precedence that can be used in future court cases.
See, I woke up today thinking, "there's no reason to hate Google more than I already do"
“YouTube opens bribes politician who is openly extorting them.”
We need to follow Brazil's lead and imprison fascists, not reward them for insurrection.
I don't think paying someone who is extorting you is considered a bribe. It's either one or the other
This settlement might help because Trump has directed one $22 million payment YouTube will make to the body overseeing his pet project – construction of a ballroom at the White House. Another $2.5 million payment will go to plaintiffs who joined the case and also felt YouTube infringed their rights.
A true man of the people, a couple scraps for however many may have felt their 'rights' to spout their conspiracies in YouTube where infringed, and 10X that for a fancy room for rich people to party in and plan how to become richer.