Judge Lukasz Granosik of the Quebec Superior Court has authorized two class-action lawsuits: one targeting the actions of the social media platform Facebook, the other aimed at YouTube’s parent company, Google LLC.

Both lawsuits argue that the censorship applied to posts critical of Covid-19 measures amounts to ‘an unlawful and intentional infringement of the individual’s freedom of expression,’ as protected by the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Google responded by stating that it believes it is not obliged to offer space for videos, regardless of their content, as it is a private platform and can be managed according to its own rules and preferences.

Judge Lukasz Granosik disagreed with that position explaining in his judgement; if Google manages and controls content found on the YouTube platform, taking actions toward censoring, then “it cannot immediately deny all responsibility.”

He clarified, saying “If it carries out censorship by preventing certain people from posting videos and prevents other people from viewing these same videos, it thus hinders the free circulation of ideas and exposes itself to having to defend its way of doing things,” and concluded with “Freedom of expression does not only mean freedom of speech, but also freedom of publication and freedom of creation.”

Judge Granosik then quoted from the Supreme Court of Canada, “it is difficult to imagine a guaranteed freedom which is more important than freedom of expression in a democratic society.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Those who have posted Covid-19 content that was censored will be eligible for $1000 in compensatory damages and $1000 in punitive damages, while those deprived of viewing content of their choosing will be eligible for $500 for each compensatory and punitive damages.

The Facebook class-action lawsuit received a similar judgement from Judge Granosik, with identical compensatory and punitive damages.

Both cases are also asking for an order that both Facebook and YouTube stop all forms of censorship regarding posts that contradict health authorities, government, and World Health Organization (or other similar organizations).

To read the Epoch Times article written by Chandra Philip, click here