The Court of Justice of the European Union has upheld a €750,000 fine imposed on Google by Italian authorities over online gambling advertisements published on YouTube, Reuters reported. The court found that a technology platform can be held responsible for content when it has a commercial partnership with the creator who posted it.
The fine was originally issued in 2022 by Italy’s communications regulator over videos promoting online gambling that were uploaded by a content creator with a commercial agreement with Google.
Google challenged the ruling, arguing that under EU rules it was shielded from liability for content posted by third parties. The Luxembourg-based court rejected that argument, stating that platforms can only be exempt from liability when they act as neutral intermediaries that automatically and passively store or transmit information without knowledge or control over its content.
Judges noted that this was not the case here, since to establish the commercial partnership the platform reviewed the channel’s main subject matter, its most popular or most recent videos, and related metadata, meaning it played an active role in the process.
The ruling sets an important precedent for how liability is assessed for major tech platforms hosting third-party content when they have a business relationship with its creators. The case now returns to the Italian courts, which will issue a final decision based on the EU court’s legal interpretation.
