EU Court rules Google can be liable for illegal YouTube videos when it partners with creators

In a case originating in Italy, the communications regulator AGCOM penalised Google Ireland and demanded that YouTube take down videos advertising online gambling, a practice prohibited under Italian law. Those videos were uploaded by a content creator who had a commercial partnership with Google, sharing ad revenue from the videos. The Court of Justice of the European Union held that the EU’s liability exemption for hosting services applies only when the platform’s role is strictly technical, automatic and passive, without knowledge of the material.

Because Google examined the creator’s channel and its main themes before establishing the partnership, it acquired concrete knowledge of the content and therefore cannot claim to be a neutral intermediary. The decision tasks Italian courts with determining whether Google could reasonably have been unaware that the channel primarily promoted gambling. The judgment has broader implications for large online platforms and their commercial relationships with creators.