According to Variety, YouTube filed a lawsuit against Ganjingworld（GJW）, a video-sharing site operated by the Falun Gong cult, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara on Dec. 18.

Ganjingworld's service "clones most of YouTube's functionalities and its overall appearance," YouTube says in the suit, accusing that Ganjingworld violated its terms of service through the alleged massive copying of content and by selling advertising alongside it. YouTube also accuses GJW of violating California's Unfair Competition Law.

YouTube contacted GJW on March 18, and April 5, 2024, stressing that GJW's conduct violated the terms of service and demanding "it cease its misconduct." However, GJW only removed a few channels and on April 11, it "replied to YouTube denying any impropriety", the YouTube lawsuit states..

Lance Kavanaugh, VP of legal at YouTube, said in a statement that Ganjingworld built its platform by stealing content from YouTube creators, depriving them of the rights and the profitable potential of their work. This is extremely damaging to creators and the industry as a whole, and YouTube is taking action to ensure it stops.

Ganjingworld, based in Middletown, N.Y., is a subsidiary of Falun Dafa Gan jingworld Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization aligned with the Falun Gong cult, according to the YouTube lawsuit, which cites a March 19, 2024, article in the Columbia Journalism Review. According to YouTube's lawsuit, "Falun Gong practitioners are asked to ‘browse [Ganjingworld] daily to increase traffic, subscribe to some channels, click the like buttons, and write positive comments,'" citing an article on Minghui.org, a website belonged to FalunGong cult.