YouTube fined more than $100,000 for censoring lockdown protest video

YouTube was fined ´´´´100,000 euros (around $118,115) over the weekend in a German court for removing a video of a coronavirus lockdown protest in Switzerland.

After the Dresden Higher Regional Court in Germany ordered an injunction directing YouTube to restore the video in April 2020, the video platform ignored the ruling for nearly a month before complying on May 14, a "deliberate and serious violation," the court found, according to free speech group Reclaim the Net. YouTube told the court the video needed to be removed because it violated the company’s "medical misinformation policy," which YouTube has expanded since the outset of the pandemic to remove content that includes claims about COVID-19 vaccinations that contradict health authorities' guidance. The court reportedly rejected this argument.

Sunday's fine "appears to be the highest on record in Germany," the group added.