Google says no to EU fact-checking law
Google told the European Union (EU) won’t comply with its new fact-checking law, according to a new report that says the massive search engine won’t include measures in its search function or YouTube video results.
Axios pointed out that this is not a practice Google has ever engaged in and reported that the company had previously signaled to the international body that it was unlikely to integrate its new fact-checking practices.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach Google to confirm what steps it is taking to ensure the most legitimate posts are found through its search engine, given previous concerns about effects of disinformation campaigns.
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Google’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, apparently informed the European Commission’s Deputy Director General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Renate Nikolay, that Disinformation Code of Practice “simply not suitable or effective for our services.”
Walker reportedly argued that Google’s current approach to content moderation is already effective and does not need an additional fact-checking component, which under the new EU guidelines would apparently display fact-checking results alongside search results.
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Republicans on the Hill touted this as a victory for free speech, including House Majority Representative Tom Emmer, who said in a post Thursday on X that it was “a step in the right direction. Kudos to Google for standing up to the EU’s attempt to censorship becomes the new norm.”
It’s unclear whether Google also viewed this fact-checking as a form of “censorship,” or whether its opposition to the regulation was that it was unnecessary given the other methods the company uses to moderate its search results.
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But the news comes at a time when large technology companies are increasingly accused of courting President Donald Trump as he returns to the White House
Google CEO Sundar Pichai attended Trump’s second inauguration along with other tech leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Fox Business could not immediately reach the European Commission for comment.