Google has lost its bid to overturn a €750,000 (£650,000) fine imposed by Italy over gambling advertisements shown on YouTube, after Europe’s highest court ruled that the company cannot automatically escape liability where it has a commercial relationship with content creators.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday backed Italy’s communications regulator, AGCOM, saying Google could be held responsible for videos promoting online gambling if they were uploaded by creators with whom the company had commercial partnership agreements.
The case dates back to 2020, when AGCOM fined Google after gambling advertisements appeared on YouTube channels linked to the company’s commercial partnerships.
Google challenged the decision in an Italian administrative court in 2022. That court then asked the Luxembourg-based CJEU to clarify how EU rules should apply.
Google argued that it was protected under EU rules covering online intermediary services, which generally shield platforms from liability for content uploaded by third parties when they act only as passive hosts.
However, the CJEU said that protection has limits.
“Google may be held liable for the YouTube videos of a content creator with whom it has a commercial partnership,” the court said.
The judges explained that online platforms can rely on the liability exemption only when they “act as an intermediary service provider carrying out a strictly technical, automated and passive activity, excluding any knowledge or control over the information which is transmitted or stored.”
The court added: “That is not 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 or newest videos and the associated metadata.”
In other words, once a platform becomes involved in assessing creators before entering commercial partnerships, it can no longer claim to be a purely passive intermediary for that content.
The ruling does not settle the dispute itself, instead, the Italian court will now decide the case based on the CJEU’s interpretation of EU law.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Beyond the cash, the judgment reinforces the position that online platforms may face legal responsibility when they play an active commercial role in content published by creators, even if they did not upload the material themselves.
