PayPal’s popular Honey browser extension is being sued by YouTuber Gamers Nexus for its practices that impacted content creators.
The controversy surrounding Honey
The controversy began when YouTuber MegaLag accused Honey of prioritizing discounts from partnered retailers over better deals available elsewhere. According to MegaLag, Honey Honey is redirecting affiliate commissions from content creators to itself. By replacing affiliate links embedded by creators with its own, Honey is accused of denying creators the rightful earnings from purchases made through their recommendations.
“It has already been filed and we’re seeing PayPal and Honey for three things. One, conversion, two is tortious interference with contractual relations, and three is unfair and deceptive trade practices,” Steve Burke said in a video.
“We filed this in collaboration with consumer class action firm CPM Legal on behalf of those affected by the actions of what we believe are anti-consumer behaviors that harm not only reviewers but consumers directly.”
Legal Action by other creators
Devin Stone, the lawyer behind the popular YouTube channel LegalEagle, previously filed a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses PayPal’s Honey of hijacking affiliate links, diverting revenue that would otherwise go to creators and influencers.
Stone claims that these practices violate both ethical standards and legal norms. “If Honey is indeed intercepting affiliate attributions, it undermines the trust advertisers place in social media platforms,” he said.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and an injunction to halt Honey’s affiliate link replacement practices. If successful, the case could set a precedent for how browser extensions handle affiliate marketing links and impact creators’ livelihoods.
This controversy has had a huge impact on the brand and its reliability. Since the extension has been used a lot, it’s likely to lose its support from both the creator community and consumers.