EU Court Rules in Favor of AGCOM: Google Can Be Held Accountable for Videos Posted by Partner Creators

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been called to rule on a crucial case for the future of digital platforms that directly involves Italy: determining whether a provider retains the status of simple passive hosting when sharing advertising revenue with a creator. This is a matter that places Google in the spotlight.

The AGCOM Case Against Google

It all dates back to July 2022, when AGCOM fined Google Ireland with a penalty of 750,000 euros for the presence on YouTube of videos promoting online gambling. Such content violated the Dignity Decree of 2018, which prohibits any form of advertising, even indirect, on games with monetary winnings.

Google contested the fine before the Italian Council of State, invoking the liability exemption provided by European e-commerce regulations (Article 14 of the e-commerce Directive) for content uploaded by third parties. AGCOM countered by arguing that the exemption did not apply to gambling and that Google's role was not neutral in this matter. In fact, the videos were published by a creator bound to Google by a revenue-sharing commercial agreement. Before signing the agreement, Google had actively reviewed the channel, the videos, and their metadata.

The Council of State thus referred the matter to the CJEU with the aim of requesting clarifications. According to the European Court, under these conditions Google does not engage in purely technical activity. Consequently, Google cannot benefit from liability exemptions.

The text of the CJEU ruling is available online.