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Google Sues LATAM Airlines in U.S. Over Brazilian YouTube Video Takedown Dispute

Google filed a lawsuit against Chile-based LATAM Airlines on Thursday in a U.S. federal court, seeking a declaration that Brazilian courts cannot compel the company to remove a YouTube video from the U.S. platform. The video, posted by a U.S. resident, accuses a LATAM employee of sexually abusing a child.

The tech giant alleges that LATAM is attempting to bypass U.S. free speech protections by pursuing legal action in Brazil to force a global takedown of the video. Google argues that courts should only have jurisdiction over content accessible within their own countries.

The video in question was posted in 2018 by Raymond Moreira, a Florida resident, featuring his six-year-old son detailing abuse allegations involving a LATAM employee during a trip as an unaccompanied minor. Moreira previously sued LATAM in Florida, resulting in a confidential settlement.

LATAM initiated legal proceedings in Brazil in 2018 seeking removal of the video worldwide. A Brazilian appeals court is expected to decide soon whether it can order Google to remove the video globally.

Google’s case in California challenges this extraterritorial reach and asks the court to affirm that LATAM cannot enforce the Brazilian order in the U.S.

This lawsuit follows a similar legal battle involving U.S.-based social media companies Trump Media and Rumble, who contested a Brazilian judge’s order to remove certain accounts from their platforms in the U.S., with a federal judge ruling in favor of the companies’ U.S. free speech protections.

OpenAI Faces Legal Battle in India Over Jurisdiction in Copyright Case

OpenAI is facing a legal challenge in India as it argues that local courts lack jurisdiction over its U.S.-based business, a stance that legal experts believe is unlikely to succeed. The case, brought by Indian news agency ANI, accuses OpenAI of copyright infringement for allegedly using its content without permission.

India, OpenAI’s second-largest market, has become a key battleground, with media groups—including those backed by billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani—joining ANI in opposition. While OpenAI maintains that its AI models use publicly available data in accordance with fair use principles, it is also contesting jurisdiction, citing its terms of service that specify dispute resolution in San Francisco. The company also argues that it does not maintain servers or data centers in India.

Legal experts, however, suggest that Indian courts are likely to reject OpenAI’s defense. Courts in the country have previously ruled against similar jurisdictional arguments, including in a 2022 case involving Telegram, where the Delhi High Court ruled that server location alone does not exempt a company from Indian law.

If OpenAI wins on the jurisdiction argument, it could avoid facing the copyright lawsuit in India. If it loses, it may be forced to delete ANI’s content from its training data and pay $230,000 in damages. The Delhi court is set to hear arguments on the case in February.

India has a history of holding foreign tech companies accountable to its laws, with past confrontations involving Google, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). The Indian government has maintained that global tech firms must comply with local regulations, reinforcing the challenge OpenAI faces in defending its position.

Amid the legal battle, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other senior executives are set to visit India on February 5, underscoring the market’s strategic importance.