Google has reportedly advised the EU it gained’t add fact-checking to look outcomes or YouTube movies, nor will it use fact-checks to affect rankings or take away content material.

This determination defies new EU guidelines aimed toward tackling disinformation.

Google Says No to EU’s Disinformation Code

In a letter to Renate Nikolay of the European Fee, Google’s world affairs president, Kent Walker, stated fact-checking “isn’t acceptable or efficient” for Google’s providers.

The EU’s up to date Disinformation Code, a part of the Digital Companies Act (DSA), would require platforms to incorporate fact-checks alongside search outcomes and YouTube movies and to bake them into their rating techniques.

Walker argued Google’s present moderation instruments—like SynthID watermarking and AI disclosures on YouTube—are already efficient.

He pointed to final 12 months’s elections as proof Google can handle misinformation with out fact-checking.

Google additionally confirmed it plans to completely exit all fact-checking commitments within the EU’s voluntary Disinformation Code earlier than it turns into obligatory underneath the DSA.

Context: Main Elections Forward

This refusal from Google comes forward of a number of key European elections, together with:

• Germany’s Federal Election (Feb. 23)
• Romania’s Presidential Election (Could 4)
• Poland’s Presidential Election (Could 18)
• Czech Republic’s Parliamentary Elections (Sept.)
• Norway’s Parliamentary Elections (Sept. 8)

These elections will seemingly check how effectively tech platforms deal with misinformation with out stricter guidelines.

Tech Giants Backing Away from Reality-Checking

Google’s determination follows a bigger pattern within the trade.

Final week, Meta introduced it might finish its fact-checking program on Fb, Instagram, and Threads and shift to a crowdsourced mannequin like X’s (previously Twitter) Group Notes.

Elon Musk has drastically decreased moderation efforts on X since shopping for the platform in 2022.

What It Means

As platforms like Google and Meta transfer away from energetic fact-checking, issues are rising about how misinformation will unfold—particularly throughout elections.

Whereas tech firms say transparency instruments and user-driven options are sufficient, critics argue they’re not doing sufficient to fight disinformation.

Google’s pushback alerts a rising divide between regulators and platforms over how one can handle dangerous content material.