Mercola.Com, LLC v. Google, LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA San Francisco Division MERCOLA.COM, LLC and DR. JOSEPH Case No. 3:22-cv-05567-LB

MERCOLA,

ORDER DISMISSING COMPLAINT Plaintiffs, Re: ECF Nos. 25, 30 v.

GOOGLE LLC, YOUTUBE, LLC,

ALPHABET INC., and DOES 1–10, Defendants.

INTRODUCTION Defendant YouTube terminated plaintiff Joseph Mercola’s YouTube channel for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines by posting medical misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. Mr. Mercola and his company then sued the defendants, claiming that the termination breaches YouTube’s terms of service, violates the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, entitles them to restitution, and constitutes conversion of their video content. They seek monetary relief and access to the video content.1 The court grants the defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss: the parties’ agreement allows YouTube to remove the content and…