A Paris court has ordered Google to halt a planned project that would reportedly remove certain media articles from search results in France. The ruling came in response to an emergency injunction filed by the SEPM union, which represents magazine staff in the country.
The SEPM claims that Google was preparing to test a scheme that would exclude articles from specific media outlets with which it is in dispute over rights to online news content.
The testing was set to begin Thursday, according to the union.
Google countered, saying the project was only a "time-limited experiment" meant to assess the effect of European publishers’ content on user search experiences.
'Compensation for content'
Google, along with other online platforms, has faced criticism in recent years for profiting from news content without sharing revenues with the creators of that content.
In response, the European Union introduced "neighbouring rights" – a form of copyright that lets print media request compensation for using their work.
France has led the way in applying these rules, with Google and Facebook agreeing to pay certain French media outlets for articles displayed in search results, though only after initial resistance.
Google and SEPM have been negotiating over neighbouring rights payments for several years, and the Paris court’s order now requires Google to "not proceed to test" the alleged scheme or risk fines of €300,000 per entity, covering Google LLC, Google Ireland and Google France.
Google 'not alone' in media disputes
The SEPM – which includes some 80 media groups – has welcomed the order, which it said would "preserve the interests of the French press".
Google expressed surprise at the SEPM’s stance, claiming that the testing was intended to gather data requested by “independent administrative authorities and press publishers” on the impact of news content display in Google’s search engine.
In March, Google was fined €250 million by France's competition authority for failing to meet some of the commitments it has made on the issue of neighbouring rights.
The Alphabet Group subsidiary is not alone in its disputes with French media over using content without payment.
Accused of bad faith negotiations, social media network X was sued this month by leading French media groups such as Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien.
Agence France-Presse is suing X over the same issue with a court hearing set for 15 May, 2025.
