Google tells EU it won't comply with upcoming fact-checking law, according to report copy of the letter received Axios. The company says it will not add fact checks to search results or videos on YouTube and will not use fact check data when ranking or removing content.
It's important to note that Google has never engaged in fact-checking as part of its content moderation policies. The company, however, did invest in a European fact-checking database on the eve of the recent EU elections.
The upcoming fact-checking requirement was initially introduced by a new European Commission regulation. Code of Practice on Disinformation. It began as a voluntary set of “self-regulatory standards to combat disinformation” but will soon become mandatory.
Google's president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said in a letter to the European Commission that integrating fact checking was “simply neither appropriate nor effective for our services.” The company also outlined its current approach to content moderation, saying it did an excellent job during last year's “unprecedented global election cycle.”
Google also points out new feature added to YouTube last year this allows some users to add contextual notes to the video, claiming it “has significant potential.” This program is similar to Community Notes X and probably some fresh hell. Meta is getting ready.
Walker said Google will continue to invest in modern content moderation technologiessuch as Synth ID watermarks and YouTube AI disclosures. We have no idea what the EU will do in response to Google once digital fact-checking practices become law.
This comes right after Meta announced it would be termination of the fact-checking program in the US, so who knows if Mark Zuckerberg will comply with EU laws. X reduced his professional fact checkers some time ago. Big Tech definitely has a big problem with facts.