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WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

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Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#91
post #85

Current title on HN: Indian Startup WhiteHatJr files suit against reviewer exposing fake ads Title on article: WhiteHat Jr and the curious case of disappearing dissent Actual subject matter: an entity abusing YouTube’s copyright systems to suppress negative comments on their advertisements (giving examples of one case of fun mockery and one finding inconsistencies in allegations made by the ads), and YouTube handling…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BQKOGKnryhK2GLrZJIWoEkAnQx0... . Kindly read this.

Not reading that now, but its filename “Karan Bajaj & Anr. Vs. Pradeep Poonia (1).pdf” suggests it may be lawsuit documents.

But I still see no mention of a lawsuit in the article; unless there is, the title here should not mention anything about filing suit (quite apart from the HN rule of not editorialising titles, but using the site’s provided title unless there’s a good reason not to).

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#92
post #19

I feel scared for him. He has been constantly exposing more of this shitty company on reddit (r/india) WhiteHatJr's ads are complete BS. They advertise that a 9 year old kid (wolf gupta, yes that is apparently his real name) got a job at Google

As I mentioned in another thread, these EdTech companies from India seem to have a nexus with Google. My friend tells me that Google India is very aggressive on advertising and for a decent budget they'll bend any policies.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#93

Current title on HN: Indian Startup WhiteHatJr files suit against reviewer exposing fake ads Title on article: WhiteHat Jr and the curious case of disappearing dissent Actual subject matter: an entity abusing YouTube’s copyright systems to suppress negative comments on their advertisements (giving examples of one case of fun mockery and one finding inconsistencies in allegations made by the ads), and YouTube handling…

That's because this news is as fresh as it gets. The details of the suit were just released a few hours ago, and for the sake of international media recognition OP selected the most prominent article with a title reflecting the current scenario.

I've been following this saga for a while, it's all on Reddit. Here's a summary, the guy started off by creating a YT channel a few months back called "WhitehatSr" where he documented what actually happens in these classes and showed that the 'teachers' literally have no idea what they're talking about. They're literally throwing around buzzwords whilst pressuring the child to pay for the full course to learn advanced concepts. The videos were posted to reddit, and soon the reddit accounts got taken down by the admin.(Not mods) Soon his twitters too, only his original remained, and so he began posting under his real name.

The guy persisted and created more Reddit accounts and continued to post till his videos got taken down on YT. I think after creating a bit of noise and being picked up by a few minor publications, the videos were reinstated, but any other person that posted videos exposing the same had their YT taken down. At this point he was posting on LinkedIN too, and around this time he got a barrage of messages from WhiteHatJr employees, one of them claiming to file a sexual assualt case against him if he does not back down. He ignored them for a while and finally called them out, after which they did briefly stop, but soon after his LinkedIN got taken down.

He said in one of his posts, that a lot of editorials would reach out to him and collect information but never end up publishing, almost as if their was a driving force stopping them from it.

He soon began to get death threats to him and his family which were deleted within seconds, but he managed to capture evidence. They were from anon accounts but they made it pretty clear where they're from

His most recent big development was screenshots from their Slack channels, which clearly showed their so called students with laurels don't exist, and one of them even show their CEO saying something along "We have to make the app on behalf of the student" and one of the employees says he'll get it it done.

Shortly after this, a rupees 200 million lawsuit was filed against this guy for "defamation". He hasn't decided what to do

I hope this gives an idea what kind of scum this 300mn USD valued "edu startup" is, whose primary targets are parents from middle and lower income households who can be enticed with a few programming jargon and images of Sundar Pichai. I'm sorry for the improper phrasing and structure, I tried to jot down what I could recollect.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#94
post #60

Pathetic. All this dude did was show users their fake ads and fake reviews. He's also showcased reviews where the instructors don't seem to know much about how the internet works. Now the legal system is being used to maliciously prosecute him. There is little hope for this man in India given the level of corruption and rot in the system. If there are well connected folks in the west who want to spend their time on a…

This is exactly why so many people freak out about:

1) YouTube being the only place people go to watch videos online

2) These awful DMCA takedown processes.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#95
post #7

They are the biggest scam in India capitalizing on FOMO of Indian parents. They charge heaftily (more than $2000) to teach app development (using Scratch, Firebase etc.). Their staff is poorly paid and just reads off scripts. Their staff doesn't know even the basics of CS (as evidenced in this video: https://youtu.be/1Y21eSn_zSM?t=64 , when the student asks how files are stored in Cloud Storage, she says the files ar…

> she says the files are stored in real clouds I have fond memories of a visit to a children’s hostel in Hyderabad, India in 2006, and a rote answer they were taught in their textbooks: “Why is a computer called a number cruncher?” “A computer is called a number cruncher because it crunches numbers with its teeth.” Dad took the children to the office where there was a computer and showed them that it had no teeth. I’…

There are well designed, carefully planned and high quality textbooks by NCERT, which is part of the school board.

But many students and parents don't prefer them. There is a proliferation of 'cut-to-the-chase' guidebooks (similar to Cliffnotes but much much worse) that they use to cram before the exam. What you describe is very likely one of these.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#96
post #82

I have had my personal stint with trying to "expose" an Indian startup (I am an Indian), also coding related which gained some traction on LinkedIn (around 500+ reactions, if they mean anything). This guy is in serious danger, trust me. I had to delete my linkedin post when my ex-manager called me to delete it otherwise the startup's employees will go crazy and try every which way to make my life hell. Unfortunately,…

I'm sorry that this happened to you but now that it has happened to you and to this guy, I looking forward to the day when one or both of these two things happens: 1. anonymous whistleblowing/exposes of shady business practices becomes a thing 2. hedgefunds like muddy waters emerge in India whose goal is to find rotten companies and profit off them through short selling Hope it rains creative destruction on such comp…

> anonymous whistleblowing/exposes of shady business practices becomes a thing

We need this so much, the guy who started this in fact was posting anonymously, but all his accounts from Reddit, to twitter got taken down following which he was forced to use his real identity and the developments the past few weeks followed.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#97
post #7

They are the biggest scam in India capitalizing on FOMO of Indian parents. They charge heaftily (more than $2000) to teach app development (using Scratch, Firebase etc.). Their staff is poorly paid and just reads off scripts. Their staff doesn't know even the basics of CS (as evidenced in this video: https://youtu.be/1Y21eSn_zSM?t=64 , when the student asks how files are stored in Cloud Storage, she says the files ar…

Yeah I am from India. I think we could have guessed this is the ultimate stage of IIT JEE rat race that's getting more and more aggressive over some years.

While I don't subscribe to all ideologies of socialism, I can only think of free high-quality education by government as a solution to this aggressive game-the-system and FOMO mentality so deep rooted here.

For context I studied in Rural Governement schools till 10th and even after that I didn't have to pay 20% of what an average Urban "Middle class" peer pays for education. The education quality is not much different. Only when I had to study engineering I came across stupid expensive not-worth-the-cost education.

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#98
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BQKOGKnryhK2GLrZJIWoEkAnQx0... . Kindly read this.

Not reading that now, but its filename “Karan Bajaj & Anr. Vs. Pradeep Poonia (1).pdf” suggests it may be lawsuit documents. But I still see no mention of a lawsuit in the article ; unless there is, the title here should not mention anything about filing suit (quite apart from the HN rule of not editorialising titles, but using the site’s provided title unless there’s a good reason not to).

https://readhacker.news/s/4zn9y this was the original link

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#99
post #60

Pathetic. All this dude did was show users their fake ads and fake reviews. He's also showcased reviews where the instructors don't seem to know much about how the internet works. Now the legal system is being used to maliciously prosecute him. There is little hope for this man in India given the level of corruption and rot in the system. If there are well connected folks in the west who want to spend their time on a…

Rarely am I the one to stand up for Google, but the DMCA is such a garbage law that they have no choice. They don't have the legal ability to call bullshit on the takedown. It's the video creator's job under the DMCA to prove themselves innocent, under penalty of perjury. (No such penalty exists for filing a false claim, BTW.)

Re: WhiteHat Jr’s founder files $2.6M defamation suit against critic

#100
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sorry you had this experience but bad news, no place is safe from retaliatory litigation. Best of luck for your journey abroad.

I think the US would qualify, no? You can't be sued for telling the truth.

You can be sued for anything. The plaintiff may not win, it might get dismissed immediately, but they can always file suit.
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