Google loses appeal as EU court upholds $854,259 Italian fine over gambling advertising

On Thursday, Europe’s highest court upheld a fine issued against Google four years ago for allowing gambling advertising on its YouTube platform in Italy.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Google may be held liable for the YouTube videos of a content creator with whom it has a commercial affiliation.

Google had contested the citation and fine issued by an Italian administrative court in 2022, appealing to that court to seek guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union.

The US tech giant said it was immune from liability for content uploaded by third parties under EU e-commerce rules. However, the YouTube videos promoting online gambling had been uploaded by a content creator who had a formal business arrangement with Google.

In this connection, the CJEU said: “ That is not what is the case where an operator reviews for the purpose of concluding a commercial partnership contract, the main theme of a video channel, that channel’s most viewed videos and the associated metadata.”

“ Google may be held liable for the YouTube videos of a content creator with whom it has a commercial partnership.”

Nonetheless, Big Tech has repeatedly cited this exemption to avoid being held accountable by regulators and users for content uploaded to their platforms especially amidst growing global concerns about the significant impact of social media on children.