World’s Legal Battle Against Google. A look into Google’s Information Monopoly
Google's information Monopoly
Google’s primary focus is organizing the world’s information in ways that drive growth and maximize profits for itself. A key example is its handling of news content: Google aggregates snippets or AI reviews of articles in search results, attracting users to its platform and generating significant ad revenue.
Democracy and Disinformation
Disinformation and over-information threatens democracy by distorting public perception and breaking trust in institutions. In 2024, tech giants like Google and Meta have unparalleled control over the news we consume. This concentration of power raises fundamental questions about fairness, democracy, and accountability. The ongoing battle against Google highlights the dangers of its dominance over global knowledge.
Where Do We Get News from?
From shared values to algorithms
News was once tied to trusted outlets—radio stations, newspapers, and TV channels—that reflected our values and helped shape our understanding of the world. These outlets relied on advertising and investors aligned with their editorial spirit, creating a balanced ecosystem of information and debate.
Today, most people access news through phones and computers, where algorithms, not editors, determine what we see. This shift has replaced community-driven dialogue with a system designed for profit and user retention.
What is Google’s Mission?
Google organize and control world’s information
Google's mission is to “organize the world’s information”. This is not just a technical goal; it’s a declaration of power. Controlling the flow of information and organizing it means influencing how societies think, vote, and act. Over time, Google has become not just a tech company but a key gatekeeper of global knowledge, wielding immense political and economic influence.
Google Officially Declared a Monopoly
On August 5, 2024, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google violated antitrust laws, maintaining an illegal monopoly in online search. The lawsuit, initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020, highlighted Google’s overwhelming market share, with over 89% in general search and 95% on mobile. Remedies under consideration include breaking up Google’s Chrome browser and limiting its exclusive agreements. This decision marks a critical step in the global battle against Google’s information monopoly and its impact on competition and democracy.
How Does Google Profits from News?
Google’s primary focus is organizing the world’s information in ways that drive growth and maximize profits for itself. A key example is its handling of news content: Google aggregates snippets or AI reviews of articles in search results, attracting users to its platform and generating significant ad revenue. However, the creators of this content—publishers—receive only a small share of the profits their work produces.
This imbalance has fueled global debates, with many questioning whether tech giants like Google should fairly compensate media outlets for using their content.
How does link-news work?
Google’s link-news model reinforces its dominance. When users search for news, Google’s algorithms prioritize content that maximizes user retention on its platform, generating ad revenue. While publishers benefit from some traffic, the system is heavily skewed in Google’s favor, often leaving smaller outlets with negligible returns.
Information as a Commodity
What is Google trading?
In 2024, generated content is a product. Whether created by journalists or generated by AI, it has a production cost that should be compensated. Google’s system profits from content without paying for its true cost, treating information as a resource to be extracted rather than a product of labor to be compensated.
Think of it like this: if you wear a vendor’s shirt at a market all day and but don’t pay for it because you didn’t take it home with you, you’ve still used it, and that use has value.
Neoliberalism and the Digital Economy
Neoliberalism prioritizes corporate growth above all else. Under this system, governments often regulate in ways that protect large corporations while neglecting the needs of citizens. Google’s resistance to fair compensation for news creators exemplifies this imbalance—extracting value from others’ work while claiming to act in the public’s interest.
The Role of Local Media
Independent journalism and democracy
Democracy depends on informed citizens. Local media plays a vital role in uncovering underreported stories and focusing on issues that directly affect communities. However, local outlets face immense challenges: declining revenue, monopolistic practices by tech giants, and the overwhelming shift to digital platforms.
Crux’s cease of publication
When respected local platforms like New Zealand’s Crux are forced to shut down due to financial pressures, it’s a clear sign that the current system fails to support independent journalism—a cornerstone of democracy.
The Legal Battle Against Google
Google’s dominance extends beyond news aggregation to its Chrome browser. Legal battles have accused Google of leveraging Chrome to reinforce its monopoly, limiting competition, and stifling innovation. These lawsuits are a key part of the battle against Google and its unchecked corporate power in the digital space.
Google adjusts its tactics based on the strength of its opponents. With the EU, it negotiates while testing limits, but with smaller, isolated countries, it resorts to threats. It frames its actions as supporting democracy, yet undermines one of its core principles by refusing fair payment for labor.
Google claims to champion freedom of speech while doing the opposite—prioritizing profit-driven news and threatening to remove countries' news content from search results. Not exactly a democratic approach, is it?
France against Google
France has taken a leading role in holding Google accountable under the European Union’s Copyright Directive. French courts have required Google to negotiate fair compensation with publishers for using their content. When Google attempted to limit access to certain news in search results as part of a “content removal experiment,” the courts blocked the move and threatened a €300,000 fine, reinforcing the need for fair treatment of content creators.
What are “neighboring rights”?
This confrontation stems from Google profiting off news content without adequately compensating its creators. In response, the EU has introduced the concept of “neighboring rights,” a copyright mechanism allowing publishers to demand fair payment for their work. While negotiations continue, Google was fined €250 million in March 2024 for failing to meet its commitments under these regulations.
Canada against Google
Canada’s News Media Bargaining Code, part of the Online News Act, requires digital platforms like Google to negotiate revenue-sharing agreements with publishers to ensure fair compensation for using their content. This legislation was designed to support local journalism and combat the financial challenges faced by news outlets in the digital age.
In response, Google threatened to remove Canadian news from its search and other services, highlighting its resistance to sharing profits with content creators. This bold move underscores Google’s reluctance to comply with laws that prioritize fairness over unchecked profit.
What is the Online News Act?
The Online News Act aims to address the power imbalance between tech giants and news organizations, ensuring that platforms like Google and Meta contribute to sustaining the journalistic ecosystem. By threatening to block Canadian news, Google revealed its focus on protecting its revenue streams rather than supporting the public good or democratic principles.
Canada’s stance is part of a growing global effort to hold tech giants accountable, challenging their dominance and advocating for a more equitable digital economy.
New Zealand Against Google
New Zealand and Australia are currently working on similar laws aimed at holding tech giants like Google accountable for the content they use. These regulations seek to ensure that news publishers, particularly smaller outlets, receive fair compensation for their work, addressing the growing imbalance in the digital economy and supporting the sustainability of independent journalism.
What is the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill?
New Zealand’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill aims to ensure fair compensation for news publishers, particularly smaller outlets, by requiring platforms like Google to negotiate payment for using their content. This legislation addresses the challenges faced by local journalism, which struggles to compete against tech giants benefiting disproportionately from their work.
Google has responded by threatening to stop linking to New Zealand news if the bill passes, a tactic it has used in other countries to avoid revenue-sharing agreements. This move underscores Google’s prioritization of profit over supporting local journalism and democratic access to information.
The bill is a critical effort to create a fairer digital economy, ensuring news creators are compensated for their labor while safeguarding the future of independent journalism in New Zealand.
Labor, Value, and Accountability
A fight against Google's Information Monopoly
When regulations favor people over corporations, companies like Google use their power to resist, threaten, and evade accountability. They frame their actions as protecting "freedom and democracy," but their refusal to fairly compensate content creators undermines these very principles.
In 2024, the fight for fair compensation for journalism is not just about money—it’s about justice. Information, like any product of labor, has value, and those who create it deserve to be paid. Without this, we risk a system where profit is prioritized over the truth and democracy itself.
