France court orders Google to suspend project restricting news content in search results
A Paris court ordered Google on Wednesday (Nov 13) to suspend a project that allegedly aimed at limiting the visibility of certain news articles in search results.
The order has been issued in response to a request from SEPM, a union representing magazine staff in France. The union alleged that Google planned to start a scheme that would exclude some articles from publishers involved in a dispute over rights for the use of online news content.
A time-limited experiment
Google, as per news agency AFP, described the project as a “time-limited experiment” intended to assess how European publishers' content affects user experience on search engines.
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In recent years, tech giants like Google have faced increasing pressure to compensate news providers for their content, which is displayed in search results. To address these concerns, the European Union introduced a form of copyright legislation, called the “neighbouring rights” legislation, giving media outlets the right to demand compensation for content used online.
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SEPM welcomes decision
France, where Google and SEPM have been in long-running negotiations, has been a testing ground for these rules. After initially resisting, both Google and Facebook have since agreed to pay some French media companies. However, the Paris court’s latest order asks Google “to not proceed to test” its scheme, or risk a potential fine of “300,000 euros each”.
The SEPM union, representing around 80 media groups, welcomed the ruling, claiming it would “preserve the interests of the French press”. Google, however, expressed surprise at SEPM’s opposition, arguing that the project aimed to gather data because “independent administrative authorities and press publishers have asked us for more information on the impact of the display of news content in our search engine.”
Earlier this year, France’s competition authority fined Google €250 million ($263 million) for failing to meet specific commitments regarding neighbouring rights. Google is not alone in these disputes; social media platform X (formerly Twitter) also faces lawsuits from French publishers like Le Monde and Le Figaro over similar payment issues.
(With inputs from agencies)
