Google on Thursday flatly rejected European Union demands for its platform to censor content, declaring it would no longer conduct so-called “fact-checking.”
Tech giants tell EU they won’t embed fact-checking in search results and YouTube videos, Axios first reported. Kent Walker, Google’s president of international affairs, wrote in a letter to Renate Nicolai, the European Commission’s deputy director general for communications networks, content and technology, that the fact-checking required by law was “simply a challenge to our services. It is neither appropriate nor effective.” ”
European Commission Code of practice regarding disinformationThe system, introduced in 2022, will require Google to include fact-checking results alongside its search results and YouTube videos, and will also require Google to include fact-checking in its ranking systems and algorithms, Axios reported. (Related: Big tech companies bend the knee to Donald Trump)
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Axios’ report was released after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced On January 7, his company announced it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in favor of Community Notes. Meta’s announcement states that its platform is “built to be a place where people can freely express themselves.” Zuckerberg said his company’s approach to content moderation often leads to “censorship,” NPR reported.
recent zuckerberg criticized European Union data laws to “censor” social media. The EU is rejected his claim as “misleading”.
Critics have accused some big tech companies of censoring conservative speech. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced in October that he was opening an investigation into Google for allegedly censoring conservatives.
zuckerberg criticized During a recent appearance on the podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Biden officials pressured Mehta to remove content that the Biden-Harris administration claimed was disinformation.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to: battle Social media censorship.
In December, President Trump announced He said he was nominating Andrew Ferguson to head the Federal Trade Commission, saying Ferguson “has a track record of standing up to Big Tech censorship and protecting our nation’s free speech.”
Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer said In the post to X, Google’s decision is “Please keep moving in the right direction,” he added, “and kudos to you.” @Google. “
A person familiar with the matter confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Google letter reported by Axios is accurate.
Spokespeople for Google and the European Union did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DCNF.
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