Google

A self-represented applicant is challenging the permanent stay of his competition class action against Google and Meta over the digital companies’ decision to ban cryptocurrency ads.

A judge has permanently stayed a class action accusing Meta and Google of breaching competition law by banning cryptocurrency ads, finding there was a potential for conflicts between the self-represented applicant, who is also funding the case, and group members.

A judge has ordered lawsuits by Fortnite owner Epic Games against Apple and Google to be heard together with class actions against the tech giants on behalf of app developers and customers who accuse them of distorting competition in the app marketplace.

A court has ordered Google to provide former Victorian Labor candidate Nurul Khan with account information and IP addresses relating to an anonymous email sent to the ALP last November, which led to his disendorsement by the party just two weeks before the state election. 

A judge has ordered Google and Microsoft to provide a social media influencer with identity information for a host of Gmail and Outlook accounts, after a months-long campaign of alleged malicious messages directed at the influencer’s business partners.

The litigation funder bankrolling two competition class actions against Apple and Google has lost its bid to see evidence filed in a similar case by developer Epic Games, after concerns were raised about its potential use in overseas proceedings against Apple.

App developers can be added as group members in class actions against Apple and Google alleging they engaged in anti-competitive conduct in operating their app stores, despite Apple’s concerns that the law firm running the case will owe conflicting duties. 

Google was negligent and acted unreasonably in “doggedly” insisting that an Adelaide woman who complained about defamatory links on its search engine provide full URLs before the links were removed, a court has found.

Arguing the interests of the self-represented applicant and group members are in conflict, Meta and Google are urging a court to shut down a class action accusing the digital giants of breaching competition law by banning cryptocurrency ads on their platforms.

From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.