Google does not want to introduce fact checking for the results of its search engine or YouTube videos. The company has now made this clear in a letter to the EU Commission. The EU wants to mandate a uniform, previously voluntary, code of conduct for tech platforms.
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The letter references the European Union’s disinformation code. It includes various voluntary measures that operators of technology platforms can take against misinformation.
Code should become mandatory with DSA
code It was introduced in 2022 and is intended to become part of the Digital Services Act (DSA) as a set of rules. The EU is therefore already trying to achieve the best possible implementation in cooperation with the technology platforms affected. They have also been collaborators in recent years. Apparently Google, Meta and company were afraid of being held responsible for misinformation, for example in the European elections.
To date, Google does not do its own fact checking but involves other players in its search results, it says. support pageIf there is any fact checking from the operator concerned for a search engine listing displayed on a website, Google will take it into account. But apparently this rarely happens. Similar measures are in place for video platform YouTube, which is also owned by Google.
“Not at all appropriate or effective”
As Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, made clear in a letter to the EU Commission, the search engine giant does not want to get more involved in this area in the future. This letter is for him news portal axios First. Accordingly, the Disinformation Code’s practice is “not at all appropriate or effective for our services.” Google will not be involved in this.
According to Walker, the code would require that Google, in addition to integrating other fact checks into search results and YouTube videos, also run its own fact checks and incorporate them into its ranking systems and algorithms.
Google refers to existing measures
He mentioned the current approach and talked about successful content moderation during several political election events that took place around the world last year. On YouTube, some users can already make relevant comments on videos, which Walker said “has significant potential.” The Google representative also clarified that they had already informed the Commission about Google’s position on this issue. Google will step down from all fact-checking obligations in the disinformation code before the DSA rulebook is created. The DSA allows the EU to impose wide-ranging sanctions if the companies concerned do not comply.
Walker emphasized that Google will continue to invest in improving its existing content moderation. Here, for example, users should be better informed through functions such as Synth ID watermarks and AI checks.
Along with Google, another big tech company is distancing itself from desired EU standards. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg also recently announced that he will largely end content moderation on Facebook and Instagram.
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