EU Court Allows Holding YouTube Accountable for User Videos: Under What Condition
The European Court of Justice has made a ruling that could significantly impact the operation of YouTube and other online platforms in EU countries. The court concluded that a platform may lose the legal protection from liability for user content if, through its own cooperation with video creators, it actually knows about the illegal nature of that content.
The decision was made in a case between Google and the Italian regulator AGCOM, which fined the company 750,000 euros for distributing gambling advertisements via YouTube.
What triggered the case
The Italian regulator found that five YouTube channels were advertising gambling websites. Additionally, the video creators encouraged viewers to send recordings of their winnings for monetary rewards.
After investigation, AGCOM fined Google 750,000 euros and ordered the company to remove 630 videos and similar content.
Google disagreed with the fine. The company stated that YouTube merely provides a platform for users to upload videos, and the requirement to check all videos before publication would effectively mean censorship and restriction of freedom of speech.
What the EU Court decided
The court agreed that YouTube itself is a neutral platform that stores and displays user videos. For this reason, it usually benefits from so-called "liability protection" — meaning it is not responsible for illegal content uploaded by users if it is unaware of it.
However, the court made an important clarification: this protection applies only as long as the platform truly remains a neutral intermediary.
Why the YouTube Partner Program was decisive
The key issue was the YouTube Partner Program — a program that allows creators to earn money from ads.
Before enabling monetization, Google reviews the channel: analyzing its theme, most popular and newest videos, as well as other information about the content.
That is why the EU Court noted: if during such a review the company actually obtains enough information that the channel systematically distributes illegal content, it can no longer claim it was unaware of it.
The decision emphasizes that if these circumstances are confirmed by the Italian court, Google "could not reasonably have been unaware" that the main theme of these channels was gambling and advertising gambling services.
What the decision does not mean
At the same time, the EU Court stressed that the ruling does not impose an obligation on YouTube to check all videos before publication.
The platform also does not automatically lose its protection if:
- users complained about a video;
- automatic algorithms detected suspicious content.
In this case, the decisive factor was that Google independently analyzed channels as part of its commercial cooperation with creators.
Possible consequences
Digital law experts believe the decision may change the approach to the liability of large online platforms in Europe.
In their opinion, the court effectively expanded the concept of when a platform is considered to know about illegal content.
At the same time, experts warn of a possible paradox. If even reviewing channels before enabling monetization can lead to loss of legal protection, platforms may be incentivized to conduct fewer such reviews.
According to lawyers, this does not fully align with the logic of the EU Digital Services Act, which, on the contrary, encourages platforms to detect potentially illegal content without the risk of automatically losing legal protection.
What happens next
The decision of the Court of the European Union is final and cannot be appealed.
The case will now be reconsidered by the Italian State Council. It is this body that must determine whether Google truly exceeded the role of a neutral intermediary and whether the AGCOM fine of 750,000 euros was lawful.
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