Google wins US court order against LATAM Airlines in YouTube video dispute

Reuters
2025.09.25 18:22
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Google has secured a preliminary court order blocking LATAM Airlines from enforcing a Brazilian court's directive to remove a YouTube video in the U.S. The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman, suggests that enforcing the Brazilian order would likely breach U.S. law. The case stems from allegations of abuse against a LATAM employee, leading to a lawsuit by a Florida resident. Google argues that the Brazilian order should not apply in the U.S., and the court appears to agree.

By Blake Brittain

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Google (GOOGL.O) has convinced a California federal court to preliminarily block Chile’s LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN) from forcing the tech giant to take down a video from its YouTube platform in the United States based on a Brazilian court order. U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman said on Wednesday that Google was likely to prove that enforcing the order in the United States would violate U.S. law.

Spokespeople and attorneys for LATAM did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision on Thursday. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda declined to comment.

U.S. citizen and Florida resident Raymond Moreira posted two YouTube videos in 2018 of his 6-year-old son describing allegations of sexual abuse that he said he experienced from a LATAM employee while traveling as an unaccompanied minor from Brazil to Florida.

Moreira sued LATAM in Florida in 2020 over the alleged abuse, which led to a confidential settlement.

LATAM’s Brazilian subsidiary sued Google in Brazil over the videos in 2018, calling them defamatory. Google later blocked the videos in Brazil based on a court order, and a Brazilian appeals court determined in June that the order should apply worldwide. Google sued LATAM in San Jose, California, in June, arguing that enforcing the order in the United States would violate its U.S. rights. Freeman agreed with Google on Wednesday that ordering the company to take down the videos would likely violate federal law. Right-wing social media companies Trump Media and Rumble filed a similar lawsuit in Florida in February against a Brazilian judge who had ordered them to remove the U.S.-based accounts of a leading supporter of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. A federal judge decided that the companies were not required to comply with the order in the United States.

The case is Google LLC v. LATAM Airlines Group SA Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:25-cv-04984.

For Google: David Kramer and Steffen Johnson of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For LATAM: Ashley Shively and David Holtzman of Holland & Knight

Read more:

Google sues LATAM Airlines in US over Brazilian YouTube video dispute

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