Tech giant Google has told the European Union (EU) that it will not add fact-checking features to search results and YouTube videos, a US media report claimed on Thursday.

Despite EU law requirements, tech firms will not use them when ranking or removing content on their platforms. A report by Axios cites a letter written by Google representatives to Renate Nicolay, Deputy Director General of the EU’s content and technology wing, in support of its claim.

Under an EU Code of Practice for online platforms, trade associations and the advertising industry introduced in 2022, they are required to control false claims, misinformation, motivated advertising etc. The Code was originally enacted in 2018.

Notably, Google has never added a fact-checking feature under its content moderation policy.

Axios reports that Google’s head of global affairs Kent Walker described the fact-checking integration enacted by the European Commission’s disinformation code as “not appropriate or effective” for the services offered by Google and expressed the tech giant’s reluctance to of.

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union, ensuring that the bloc’s policies and laws are implemented in member states. It also negotiates international agreements on behalf of the European Union.

To reaffirm Google’s stance on EU fact-checking law, Walker cited the company’s existing policy regarding content moderation, calling it adequate, and cited various polls conducted around the world last year to support his claim. Cited.

Axios quoted Walker in the letter as saying, “Google will continue to invest in improving its current content moderation practices, which give people more information about their search results through features like Synth ID watermarking and AI disclosure on YouTube.” Focused on providing.”

The development comes a week after Mark Zuckerberg, head of social media major Meta, claimed that EU data law only requires big tech outlets to follow their fact-checking rules and remove objectionable content.

Reuters quoted Zuckerberg as saying, “The number of laws institutionalizing censorship in Europe is constantly increasing and it has become difficult to create anything innovative there.”

Last week, Meta said it would pause its efforts Fact-check and reduce speech policing On major platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

As EU data law dictates, the code required Google to include fact-checking results with its search results and videos on YouTube. It would also require Google to add a fact-checking feature to its ranking system and algorithms.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), set to be brought into effect in 2022, has, as the Commission claimed on its official website, alarmed many with fake news, false health care information, misleading claims and conspiracy theories on vaccines. Life is in danger. Covid-19 pandemic.