France fined Google 500 million euros — $593 million — on Tuesday for failing to negotiate a deal “in good faith” with news publishers on its platform.
French authorities say Google ignored a 2020 order from regulators to negotiate a licensing deal with publishers to use short blurbs from articles in search results, according to a report by the New York Times.
The case represents one of the first attempts to apply the European Union’s new copyright directive intended to force internet platforms like Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for their content, the report added.
“When the authority imposes injunctions on companies, they are required to apply them scrupulously, respecting their letter and their spirit,” said the president of the French antitrust body, Isabelle de Silva, in a statement.
French officials say Google now has two months to come up with new ideas for compensating news publishers, or else the tech giant will risk additional fines of up to 900,000 euros — a little over $1 million — per day.
Google reportedly said it is “very disappointed” with the French decision, and that it will continue negotiating with publishers.
“We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process,” Google insisted in a statement. “The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms.”
Policymakers in Europe and elsewhere are increasingly siding with publishers who argue that internet companies are profiting from the unfair use of their content.
But tech giants like Google and Facebook counterargue that they are driving traffic to the news websites.
French authorities say Google has placed unfair restrictions on its negotiations with news publishers, which include the requirement that they must participate in the tech giant’s licensing program, News Showcase.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.