About: Google
Commission fines Google €1.49 billion for illegal practices
The European Commission fined Google €1.49 billion on Wednesday (20 March), after concluding that Google had breached EU laws by restricting rival online advertising services to access third-party websites.
Commission urges platforms to take action on fake accounts before EU elections
Online platforms need to step up their attempts to quell the spread of fake accounts but also provide greater independent access to their content for fact checkers, as part of their wider efforts in compliance with the code of practice against disinformation, the European Commission said on Wednesday (20 March).
Google braces for multi-million fine in final EU antitrust case
The European Commission is expected to fine Google over its online advertisement services today (20 March), bringing an end to the last outstanding case in a decade-long antitrust battle with the American digital giant.
Russian disinformation attempts to weaken ‘America’s commitment to Europe,’ US ambassador says
The Russian state is engaging in “subtle and insidious” disinformation campaigns that aim to “weaken America’s commitment to Europe” and “exploit the open market of ideas in our democracy,” the US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland has said.
Google uses AI technology to boost wind energy efficiency
Google has boosted the value of the wind energy it produces by 20% after installing its own artificial intelligence (AI) software across its largest renewable energy facilities in the US. EURACTIV's media partner edie.net reports.
EU raps Facebook, Twitter and Google for inaction on fake news
Online platforms are failing to make sufficient progress in the fight against disinformation, the European Commission warned on Thursday (28 December). As the European elections draw closer, the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA has called for national legislation in the fight against fake news.
Apple, Google and Facebook embroiled in new tech war
Apple shut down Google’s distribution of internal iOS apps on Thursday (31 January), following allegations that the search engine giant had violated Apple’s app distribution policy in wrongly collecting user data for internal research. The move came a day after Apple imposed similar restrictions on Facebook.
News media lobbies Merkel, Macron on copyright reform
European news media associations wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday (31 January) to push for action on online copyright reform.
EU Commission hits out at Facebook’s disinformation report
European Commission Security Chief Julian King criticised the "patchy, opaque and self-selecting" reporting provided by Facebook and other tech giants following their bids to comply with the EU's code of practice against disinformation on Tuesday (29 January).
France hits Google with €50 million GDPR fine
By hitting Google with a fine, the French data regulatory authority has set a precedent which may rattle digital leaders across Europe - the derelictions of duty which Google is accused of in France are shared by many other operators. EURACTIV France reports.
Updating copyright rules for news: There’s a better way
The EU Copyright directive should avoid making reforms that takes away publishers’ choices about how to distribute and make money with their content online, writes Richard Gingras.
Right to be forgotten should be limited to EU, top court says in Google case
The EU's "right to be forgotten" ruling should only be limited to the EU, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday (10 December), delivering an opinion on a case brought by France's privacy authority, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL).
Loopholes the size of a double-decker bus would make a mockery of the Copyright Reform
Lawmakers must ensure that the new EU copyright directive protects press publishers and their right to assert their copyright in the digital age, argues Christian van Thillo.
2019 LOOKAHEAD: Towards a ‘Techno-ethics’
2019 is likely to prove the dawn of a 'Techno-ethics' in which consumers will expect their rights to be respected in the digital realm as they are in everyday life and legislators will oblige tech giants to play by the same rules as the wider industry.
Shadow rapporteurs take stand against Parliament’s handling of copyright directive
Shadow rapporteurs on the controversial copyright directive are frustrated that the European Parliament does not have a unified position on disputed Articles 11 and 13, with one MEP telling EURACTIV that Parliament has been conducting institutional negotiations without a text fully agreed on by shadows.
Copyright could force us to pull out of EU, Google News boss says
A specific article in the controversial copyright directive may result in Google withdrawing their news aggregator service from the EU, EURACTIV has learnt. EU ministers are set to discuss the issue and reach an agreement on the file later this week.
MEPs back fair-play rules for platforms and operating systems
MEPs backed rules to force online platforms to be more transparent and fair to business clients on Thursday (6 December), with some members voicing frustration at the fact that operating systems are to be included in the scope of the regulation.
France and Germany aim to keep digital tax alive with new proposal
France and Germany sought on Monday (3 December) to salvage a proposed EU tax on big digital firms by narrowing the focus to cover only companies' online advertising revenue, a European source said.
European consumer groups want regulators to act against Google tracking
Consumer agencies in the Netherlands, Poland and five other European Union countries asked privacy regulators on Tuesday to take action against Google for allegedly tracking the movements of millions of users in breach of the bloc's new privacy law.
EU turns eye to ‘fake’ Google shopping rivals
The EU's top competition enforcer said Brussels was taking a closer look at allegations that Google had helped introduce false price comparison sites to answer a historic ruling against the search engine giant.
Stark divisions among member states in EU digital tax plans
EU finance ministers remain divided over a raft of issues in the European Commission's digital services tax (DST) plans after a meeting on Tuesday (6 November) drew attention to a plethora of challenges in reaching a consensus.
UK takes lead in digital tax standoff but diverts from EU plans
The UK is to roll out a digital services tax (DST) for tech giants from April 2020 in a move that breaks an international stalemate on the subject. The rates, however, differ substantially from the EU’s own DST plans.
US should ‘follow EU’ in privacy legislation, Apple chief says
Tim Cook, head of tech giant Apple, has rallied the US to “follow the lead” of the EU in privacy rules, saying that humanity is living amid a “data industrial complex” in which “our own information is being weaponised against us with military efficiency”.