A YouTuber, Marshall Daniels—who has posted far-right-leaning videos under the name "Young Pharaoh" since 2015—tried to argue that YouTube violated his First Amendment rights by removing two videos discussing George Floyd and COVID-19. Years later, Daniels now owes YouTube nearly $40,000 in attorney fees for filing a frivolous lawsuit against YouTube owner Alphabet, Inc.

A United States magistrate judge in California, Virginia K. DeMarchi, ordered Daniels to pay YouTube $38,576 for asserting a First Amendment claim that "clearly lacked merit and was frivolous from the outset." YouTube said this represents a conservative estimate and likely an underestimate of fees paid defending against the meritless claim.