In response to a proposed law from French government officials that would tax Google revenues generated from ads around links to French websites, the search giant has threatened to de-list French media websites — including newspapers and news outlets — from its index.
As Google stated in an open letter published on its Google Europe blog on Thursday night, it “would therefore forced to stop referencing the French sites. Less information would available online. The law could also be seen as being indirectly affect freedom of expression.”(Translated from French)
Google also compared the idea of taxing the company for linking to French websites to charging a taxi driver for delivering a person to their destination.
Representatives from Google are scheduled to meet with French officials on Friday to discuss the issue and a recently-issued European Union condemnation of Google’s privacy policy updated in March, AFP reported.
H/T: The Atlantic Tech
