Plaintiff alleges Google LLC’s targeted removal violated First Amendment rights

In a dramatic legal confrontation, a Texas resident has taken on one of the world’s largest tech companies, alleging a breach of constitutional rights. Narveen Singh Aryaputri filed a complaint against Google LLC, doing business as YouTube, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on February 4, 2026. The complaint accuses Google LLC of infringing upon her First Amendment rights by unjustly removing her religious and cultural content from its platform.

The plaintiff, Narveen Singh Aryaputri, is an adherent of Sikh Dharma and an artist with a background in English Literature. Her YouTube channel was dedicated to showcasing sacred Sikh music (Kirtan), classical raag performances, and cultural events. Aryaputri claims that her channel was non-commercial and purely educational and devotional in nature. However, on November 5, 2024, during celebrations for Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary, YouTube deleted her account citing an association with a “criminal organization.” This action by YouTube is at the heart of Aryaputri’s lawsuit.

Aryaputri contends that Google’s actions were not neutral but rather targeted due to her religious identity and cultural expression. She alleges that Google operated under governmental pressure and coercion which transformed its conduct into state action subject to constitutional constraints. “Defendant’s moderation conduct was undertaken with knowledge of, and responsiveness to, governmental expectations regarding permissible speech,” Aryaputri asserts in her complaint. The lawsuit claims that this resulted in significant harm to her expressive activities and falsely stigmatized the artists featured on her channel as criminals.

Seeking justice through the court system, Aryaputri demands declaratory and injunctive relief alongside compensatory and punitive damages. She requests that the court declare Google’s actions unconstitutional and seeks an injunction to prevent further censorship of her protected expression. Additionally, she asks for all saved data associated with her deleted YouTube channel to be returned.

Representing herself pro se in this case is Narveen Singh Aryaputri from Cuero, Texas. The case has been filed under Civil Action No. 6:26-cv-00007 in front of Judge Nathan Ochsner.