Google’s handling of gambling-related promotions has come under renewed legal scrutiny in the EU, after a senior adviser to the bloc’s top court warned that the platform’s legal immunity depends entirely on maintaining a neutral, hands-off role towards the content it hosts.

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, delivering his opinion to the Court of Justice of the European Union, said YouTube remains protected under EU rules only so long as it does not influence, shape or manage the gambling ads attached to user-uploaded videos.

If the platform acts merely as a technical host, it maintains its shield. But if it begins determining how such ads appear or are promoted, it can be held responsible by national regulators.

The case stems from Italy’s media regulator, AGCOM, which fined Google €750,000 for hosting YouTube videos promoting prize-based gaming sites, in breach of Italy’s 2018 ban on gambling advertising. Google Ireland, responsible for YouTube across Europe, argued that under the EU’s “country-of-origin” principle the platform is accountable primarily to Irish authorities rather than each member state.

Szpunar acknowledged the intention behind the rule, which is designed to prevent digital fragmentation. However, he stressed that gambling is excluded from the EU’s harmonised framework, giving member states more freedom to impose restrictions in the public interest.

Even so, he said Italy cannot automatically extend its gambling-advertising ban to YouTube unless the platform is shown to have played an active editorial role.

A central point in the dispute is YouTube’s Partner Programme, through which creators earn revenue from ads attached to their videos.

AGCOM argued that this monetisation structure makes YouTube an active participant in distributing gambling promos. Szpunar rejected that view, saying there was no evidence the platform selected or shaped gambling content and that revenue-sharing alone does not turn YouTube into a publisher.

He noted that YouTube’s internal review system checks only a limited sample of videos already online and does not involve editing or pre-approving uploads — an indication that the platform is not directing the content it carries.