Press release: UK regulator action on Google must secure urgent, meaningful opt-out from AI scraping
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today announced proposals which could help to reduce the damage caused to independent news publishers by Google’s ‘AI’ tools.
Tech justice non-profit Foxglove submitted a complaint to the CMA last summer, calling on it to urgently put in place measures which would allow journalists to opt-out of having their publications ‘scraped’ for use in Google’s ‘AI Overviews,’ without being removed from search altogether.
These AI Overviews take the work of journalists without compensation, and use it to create summaries which Google shows to users of its own website. In doing so, they push links to the news websites further down the search rankings, endangering journalists’ ability to reach their audience and earn from the work they have done. At the moment, publishers can only opt out of having their work stolen for AIOs by opting out of search altogether – with Google controlling over 90% of search, this means effectively removing themselves from the internet.
Today, the CMA has proposed that “Publishers will be able to opt out of their content being used to power AI features such as AI Overviews or to train AI models outside of Google search.” However, the regulator has not explicitly said in its public statement that Google will also be prevented from penalising those who opt-out, by removing them from search. The proposals now face a consultation which will run until 25 February.
Commenting, Rosa Curling, co-executive director at Foxglove said: “It is welcome news that the CMA is considering proposals which could help stop Google stealing the work of independent journalists and news organisations. However, it is crucial that the CMA confirms that their proposal for an opt-out from ‘AI scraping’ is meaningful – Google must not be allowed to penalise those organisations who opt-out by demoting or removing them from search.
“The CMA must also move with greater urgency. Foxglove submitted a complaint detailing this problem last June – the regulator needs to act quickly, before it’s too late. The loss of independent news organisations is not just bad news for journalism, but also for an informed democracy in the UK.”
ENDS