EU Court Sends Google Gambling-Ad Fine Back To Italy's Council Of State
TNW reported that the Court of Justice of the European Union answered questions in a case tied to AGCOM’s €750,000 fine against Google Ireland over YouTube gambling videos. The ruling leaves Italy’s Council of State to apply the EU-law answers to the fine.
A European Union court ruling has moved a Google gambling-ad case back to a court in Italy after clarifying how hosting-liability questions apply to YouTube videos.
The dispute concerns AGCOM's order over videos promoting online gambling.
The case is a technology-policy test for platforms that host, review and monetise third-party content.
It does not by itself decide the final fate of the AGCOM fine.
AGCOM Fined Google Ireland On 19 July 2022
TNW reported that AGCOM, Italy's communications authority, fined Google Ireland €750,000 on 19 July 2022 and ordered the company to remove YouTube videos promoting online gambling.
AGCOM's order, the article reported, treated the videos as breaches of Italy's Dignity Decree, a 2018 law banning direct and indirect advertising for games with cash prizes across media channels.
Google challenged the AGCOM decision before an administrative court.
The company relied on the liability exemption that EU electronic-commerce law gives hosting providers for third-party material.
AGCOM argued that the exemption does not extend to gambling because gambling falls outside the scope of the electronic-commerce rules.
The Council of State referred questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling.
EU Judges Addressed Hosting Exemption Questions
The Court of Justice answered questions of EU law rather than reviewing the Italian fine directly.
The court in Italy must now apply those answers to the facts of the Google case.
The referred questions focused on whether the hosting exemption in the e-commerce directive applies to online advertising for games and betting with money.
They also asked whether Google could rely on that exemption given its arrangement with the creator who uploaded the videos.
The videos were uploaded by a content creator linked to Google through a commercial partnership agreement.
The arrangement shared advertising revenue from ads running before each video.
Revenue Share And Channel Review Sit In The Record
Before signing the commercial partnership, Google reviewed the creator's videos, the channel theme, the most viewed and most recent uploads, and associated metadata.
Those details are part of the factual record now returning to the court in Italy.
The case also drew participation from Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Portugal, alongside Google, AGCOM and the European Commission.
The article listed those governments among the hearing participants.
Italy's Council of State still has to decide what the EU-law answers mean for the AGCOM fine.
The available public record does not include a final decision, a revised penalty amount, or the exact compliance steps Google would have to take if the fine is upheld.
