Report March 2025

Submitted

Executive summary

Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. To deliver on this mission, elevating high-quality information and enhancing information quality across our services is of utmost importance. Since Google was founded, Google’s product, policy, and content enforcement decisions have been guided by the following three principles:

1. Value openness and accessibility: Aim to provide access to an open and diverse information ecosystem, while maintaining a responsible approach to supporting information quality;

2. Respect user choice: Based on users’ intent, provide access to content that is not illegal or prohibited by Google’s policies, but set a high bar for information quality where users have not clearly expressed what they are looking for;

3. Build for everyone: Take into account the diversity of users (cultures, languages, backgrounds) and seek to address their needs appropriately.

With these principles in mind, Google has teams around the world working to combat harmful misinformation. Google has long invested in ranking systems that seek to connect people with high-quality content; in developing and enforcing rules that prohibit harmful behaviours and contents on Google services; and in innovative ways to provide context to users when they might need it most. We realise that fundamental rights are interdependent and are sometimes in tension with each other. When efforts to protect or advance one right may result in limiting another right, we identify and implement mitigation measures to address potential adverse impacts such as, protecting freedom of expression via appeals mechanisms or raising high-quality content to address lower-quality content that may appear on the platform. We comply with applicable laws by removing illegal content. We also remove content that violates our policies, and regularly evolve these policies in consultation with experts. Our work is not done, and we expect to continue improving upon these efforts in the future.

However, we are cognisant that these are complex issues, affecting all of society, which no single actor is in a position to fully tackle on their own. That is why we have welcomed the multi-stakeholder approach put forward by the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.

As the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation is being brought under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) framework, Google has revised its subscription to focus on reasonable, proportionate and effective measures to mitigate systemic risks related to disinformation that are tailored to our services. Accordingly, Google has exited certain commitments that are not relevant, practicable or appropriate for its services, including all commitments under the Political Advertising and Fact-Checking chapters.

Alongside our participation in the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, we will continue to work closely with regulators to ensure that our services appropriately comply with the DSA, in full respect of EU fundamental rights such as freedom of expression. The work of supporting a healthy information ecosystem is never finished and we remain committed to it. This is in our interest and the interest of our users.

This report includes metrics and narrative detail for Google Search, YouTube, and Google Advertising users in the European Union (EU), and covers the period from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024.

Updates to highlight in this report include (but are not limited to):

2024 EU Elections: In 2024, a number of elections took place around the world. In H2 2024, voters cast their ballots in the Romanian presidential election and in the second round of the French legislative election. Google was committed to supporting these democratic processes by surfacing high-quality information to voters, safeguarding its platforms from abuse and equipping campaigns with the best-in-class security tools and training. In addition, Google put in place a number of policies and other measures that have helped people navigate political content that was AI-generated, including ad disclosures, content labels on YouTube, and digital watermarking tools.

Supporting Researchers in Technology Related to Trust & Safety: Google has continued to demonstrate its commitment to empowering the research community by hosting workshops with researchers and providing grants to support research efforts related to Trust & Safety areas of interest. These Trust & Safety workshops aim to build relationships among scholars working in different fields, to share projects and insights across the broader Trust & Safety ecosystem. We are also committed to assisting researchers with financial support to continue their research. Google provides unrestricted grants to support research efforts across areas of interest related to Trust & Safety in technology through the Trust & Safety Research Awards. This program, in partnership with University Relations, is one of Google’s largest opportunities to partner with external researchers on priority Trust & Safety topics. Similarly, we announced the first-ever winners of the Google Academic Research Awards (GARA) program in October 2024. In this first funding cycle, the program will support 95 projects led by 143 researchers globally, and their work aligns with Google's commitment to responsible innovation.

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI): In H1 2024, we announced new AI safeguards to help protect against misuse. We introduced SynthID, a technology that adds imperceptible watermarks to AI-generated images and audio so they are easier to identify; this year, we are expanding SynthID’s capabilities to watermarking AI-generated text, audio, visual and video. YouTube also introduced a new tool in Creator Studio requiring creators to disclose to viewers when realistic content is made with altered or synthetic media, including generative AI. In addition to these new tools, we are also committed to working with the greater ecosystem to help others benefit from and improve on the advances we are making. As such, we will open-source SynthID text watermarking through our updated Responsible Generative AI Toolkit. Underpinning our advancements in AI, as a member of the Standard and Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), we collaborate with Adobe, Microsoft, startups and many others to build and implement the newest version (2.1) of the coalition’s technical standard, Content Credentials. This version is more secure against a wider range of tampering attacks due to stricter technical requirements for validating the history of the content’s provenance.

Google has been working on AI for more than a dozen years to solve society’s biggest challenges and power Google services people use every day. The progress in large-scale AI models (including generative AI) has sparked additional discussion about the social impacts of AI and raised concerns on topics such as misinformation. Google is committed to developing technology responsibly and published AI Principles in 2018 to guide our work. Google’s robust internal governance focuses on responsibility throughout the AI development lifecycle, covering model development, application deployment, and post-launch monitoring. While we recently updated our Principles to adapt to shifts in technology, the global conversation, and the AI ecosystem, our deep commitment to responsible AI development remains unchanged. Through our philanthropic arm Google.org we have supported organisations that are using AI to tackle important societal issues. Google Search has published guidance on AI-generated content, outlining its approach to maintaining a high standard of information quality and the overall helpfulness of content on Search. To help enhance information quality across its services, Google has also announced that it will soon be integrating new innovations in watermarking, metadata, and other techniques into its latest generative models. Google has also joined other leading AI companies to jointly commit to advancing responsible practices in the development of artificial intelligence which will support efforts by the G7, the OECD, and national governments. Going forward we will continue to report and expand upon Google developed AI tools and are committed to advance bold and responsible AI, to maximise AI’s benefits and minimise its risks.

Lastly, the contents of this report should be read with the following context in mind:

This report discusses the key approaches across the following Google services when it comes to addressing disinformation: Google Search, YouTube, and Google Advertising.
For chapters of the Code that involve the same actions across all three services (e.g. participation in the Permanent Task-force or in development of the Transparency Centre), we respond as 'Google, on behalf of related services'.
This report follows the structure and template laid out by the Code’s Permanent Task-force, organised around Commitments and Chapters of the Code.
Unless otherwise specified, metrics provided cover activities and actions during the period from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024.
The data provided in this report is subject to a range of factors, including product changes and user settings, and so is expected to fluctuate over the time of the reporting period. As Google continues to evolve its approach, in part to better address user and regulatory needs, the data reported here could vary substantially over time.
We are continuously working to improve the safety and reliability of our services. We are not always in a position to pre-announce specific launch dates, details or timelines for upcoming improvements, and therefore may reply 'no' when asked whether we can disclose future plans for Code implementation measures in the coming reporting period. This 'no' should be understood against the background context that we are constantly working to improve safety and reliability and may in fact launch relevant changes without the ability to pre-announce.
This report is filed concurrently with two ‘crisis reports’ about our response to the Israel-Gaza conflict and to the war in Ukraine. Additionally, an annex on Google’s response toward the recent elections in Romania and France is included in this report. As such, while there will be references to our actions throughout this report, information specific to these events should be sought in dedicated reports.

Google will continue to publish subsequent versions of this report biannually, focusing on the 6 months review period relevant to each filing, as requested under the Code.

Google looks forward to continuing to work together with other stakeholders in the EU to address challenges related to disinformation.

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Elections 2024

[Note: Signatories are requested to provide information relevant to their particular response to the threats and challenges they observed on their service(s). They ensure that the information below provides an accurate and complete report of their relevant actions. As operational responses to crisis/election situations can vary from service to service, an absence of information should not be considered a priori a shortfall in the way a particular service has responded. Impact metrics are accurate to the best of signatories’ abilities to measure them].

Threats observed or anticipated

Overview

In elections and other democratic processes, people want access to high-quality information and a broad range of perspectives. High-quality information helps people make informed decisions when voting and counteracts abuse by bad actors. Consistent with its broader approach to elections around the world, during the various elections across the EU in H2 2024, Google was committed to supporting this democratic process by surfacing high-quality information to voters, safeguarding its platforms from abuse and equipping campaigns with the best-in-class security tools and training.

To do so, Google will continue its efforts in 2025 to:

Safeguard its platforms;
Inform voters by surfacing high-quality information;
Equip campaigns and candidates with best-in-class security features and training; and
Help people navigate AI-generated content.

Mitigations in place

Across Google, various teams support democratic processes by connecting people to election information like practical tips on how to register to vote or providing high-quality information about candidates. In 2024, a number of key elections took place around the world. In June 2024, voters across the 27 Member States of the European Union took to the polls to elect Members of European Parliament (MEPs). In H2 2024, voters also cast their ballots in the Romanian presidential election and in the second round of the French legislative election. Google was committed to supporting these democratic processes by surfacing high-quality information to voters, safeguarding its platforms from abuse and equipping campaigns with the best-in-class security tools and training. Across its efforts, Google also has an increased focus on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and the part it can play in the misinformation landscape — while also leveraging AI models to augment Google’s abuse-fighting efforts.

Safeguarding Google platforms and disrupting the spread of misinformation

To better secure its products and prevent abuse, Google continues to enhance its enforcement systems and to invest in Trust & Safety operations — including at its Google Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) for Content Responsibility in Dublin, dedicated to online safety in Europe and around the world. Google also continues to partner with the wider ecosystem to combat misinformation.

Enforcing Google policies and using AI models to fight abuse at scale: Google has long-standing policies that inform how it approaches areas like manipulated media, hate and harassment, and incitement to violence — along with policies around demonstrably false claims that could undermine democratic processes, for example in YouTube’s Community Guidelines and its Political Content Policies for advertisers. To help enforce Google policies, Google’s AI models are enhancing its abuse-fighting efforts. With recent advances in Google’s Large Language Models (LLMs), Google is building faster and more adaptable enforcement systems that enable us to remain nimble and take action even more quickly when new threats emerge.
Working with the wider ecosystem: Since Google’s inaugural contribution of €25 million to help launch the European Media & Information Fund, an effort designed to strengthen media literacy and information quality across Europe, 70 projects have been funded across 24 countries so far. Google also supports numerous civil society, research and media literacy efforts from partners, including the Civic Resilience Initiative, Baltic Centre for Media Excellence, CEDMO and more.

Helping people navigate AI-generated content

Like any emerging technology, AI presents new opportunities as well as challenges. For example, generative AI makes it easier than ever to create new content, but it can also raise questions about trustworthiness of information. Google put in place a number of policies and other measures that have helped people navigate content that was AI-generated. Overall, harmful altered or synthetic political content did not appear to be widespread on Google’s platforms. Measures that helped mitigate that risk include:

Ads disclosures: Google expanded its Political Content Policies to require advertisers to disclose when their election ads include synthetic content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events. Google’s ads policies already prohibit the use of manipulated media to mislead people, like deep fakes or doctored content.
Content labels on YouTube: YouTube’s Misinformation Policies prohibit technically manipulated content that misleads users and could pose a serious risk of egregious harm — and YouTube requires creators to disclose when they have created realistic altered or synthetic content, and will display a label that indicates for people when the content they are watching is synthetic. For sensitive content, including election related content, that contains realistic altered or synthetic material, the label appears on the video itself and in the video description.
A responsible approach to Generative AI products: In line with its principled and responsible approach to its Generative AI products like Gemini, Google has prioritised testing across safety risks ranging from cybersecurity vulnerabilities to misinformation and fairness. Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, Google is restricting the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses.
Provide users with additional context: 'About This Image' in Search helps people assess the credibility and context of images found online.
Digital watermarking: SynthID, a tool in beta from Google DeepMind, directly embeds a digital watermark into AI-generated images, audio, text, or audio. Google recently expanded SynthID’s capabilities to watermark AI-generated text in the Gemini app and web experience, as well as to video in Veo, Google’s recently announced and most capable generative video model.
Industry collaboration: Google joined the C2PA coalition and standard, a cross-industry effort to help provide more transparency and context for people on AI-generated content. Alongside other leading tech companies, Google also pledged to help prevent deceptive AI-generated imagery, audio or video content from interfering with this year’s global elections. The ‘Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections’ is a set of commitments to deploy technology countering harmful AI-generated content meant to deceive voters.

Informing voters surfacing high-quality information

In the build-up to elections, people need useful, relevant and timely information to help them navigate the electoral process. Here are some of the ways Google makes it easy for people to find what they need, and which were deployed during elections that took place across the EU in 2024:

Voting details and Election Results on Google Search: Google put in place a ‘How to Vote’ and ‘How to Register’ feature for the national parliamentary elections in France, which featured aggregated voting information from the French Electoral Commission on Google Search.
High-quality Information on YouTube: For news and information related to elections, YouTube’s systems prominently surface high-quality content, on the YouTube homepage, in search results and the ‘Up Next’ panel. YouTube also displays information panels at the top of search results and below videos to provide additional context. For example, YouTube may surface various election information panels above search results or on videos related to election candidates, parties or voting.
Ongoing transparency on Election Ads: All advertisers who wish to run election ads in the EU on Google’s platforms are required to go through a verification process and have an in-ad disclosure that clearly shows who paid for the ad. These ads are published in Google’s Political Ads Transparency Report, where anyone can look up information such as how much was spent and where it was shown. Google also limits how advertisers can target election ads.

Equipping campaigns and candidates with best-in-class security features and training

As elections come with increased cybersecurity risks, Google works hard to help high-risk users, such as campaigns and election officials, civil society and news sources, improve their security in light of existing and emerging threats, and to educate them on how to use Google’s products and services.

Security tools for campaign and election teams: Google offers free services like its Advanced Protection Program — Google’s strongest set of cyber protections — and Project Shield, which provides unlimited protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Google also partners with Possible, The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Deutschland sicher im Netz (DSIN) to scale account security training and to provide security tools including Titan Security Keys, which defend against phishing attacks and prevent bad actors from accessing users’ Google Accounts.
Tackling coordinated influence operations: Google’s Threat Intelligence Group helps identify, monitor and tackle emerging threats, ranging from coordinated influence operations to cyber espionage campaigns against high-risk entities. Google reports on actions taken in its quarterly bulletin, and meets regularly with government officials and others in the industry to share threat information and suspected election interference. Mandiant also helps organisations build holistic election security programs and harden their defences with comprehensive solutions, services and tools, including proactive exposure management, proactive intelligence threat hunts, cyber crisis communication services and threat intelligence tracking of information operations. A recent publication from the team gives an overview of the global election cybersecurity landscape, designed to help election organisations tackle a range of potential threats.
Helpful resources at euelections.withgoogle: Google launched an EU-specific hub at euelections.withgoogle with resources and trainings to help campaigns connect with voters and manage their security and digital presence. In advance of the European Parliamentary elections in 2019, Google conducted in-person and online security training for more than 2,500 campaign and election officials, and, for the 2024 EU Parliamentary elections, Google built on these numbers by directly reaching 3,500 campaigners through in-person trainings and briefings on election integrity and tackling misinformation across the region.

Google is committed to working with government, industry and civil society to protect the integrity of elections in the European Union — building on its commitments made in the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.