Google refuses to add fact-checks to Search results, YouTube videos

Google

Google will not add fact check to its Search results or YouTube videos, the Search giant has told the EU. Google has also said that it won't remove or change how it ranks content based on fact-checks, according to a report by Axios. Google’s announcement comes days after Meta made changes in its content moderation policies. Meta too has reduced its fact-checking efforts.

The European Union has come up with a new law called the Digital Services Act (DSA), which includes a “Code of Practice on Disinformation”. The new code requires social media and big tech companies to show fact-check results with search results, YouTube videos and others. They also want the tech companies to fact-check information before making them available to the consumers. The whole idea behind this is to stop false news from spreading on social media. However, companies like Google feel their current systems work better without adding fact-check.

Google in its letter to EU argued that adding fact-checking to Search results will not be right fit  for the company.Google feels that its current methods like giving extra context to search results, using AI to flag videos on YouTube are working out quite well. Google also claimed that it handled last year’s election well using the existing services . Hence, it won’t join any fact checking agreements with DSA.

Earlier this week, Meta said it would get rid of fact-checking and have very little control over what its users say on the platform. The social media giant is also doing away with third-party fact checkers and moving to community notes similar to X.

“We will end the current third party fact checking program in the United States and instead begin moving to a Community Notes program. We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see. We think this could be a better way of achieving our original intention of providing people with information about what they’re seeing – and one that’s less prone to bias,” Meta said in a blog post.