Google asked employees to delete messages amid antitrust scrutiny: Report
What's the story
Google has been accused of directing its employees to delete internal communications and steer clear of certain terminology, in an attempt to dodge antitrust lawsuits.
This tactic was allegedly started in 2008 when the tech giant came under antitrust scrutiny over an advertising deal with Yahoo, reported The New York Times.
The report also indicates a confidential memo was shared among employees at the time, advising them against discussing sensitive topics without having "all the facts."
Tech tweaks
Google's internal communication tool modified
The NYT report further reveals that Google changed its internal communication tool, setting it to 'off the record.' This ensured that any potentially damaging phrase would be automatically deleted the next day.
The company also encouraged employees to label documents as 'attorney-client privileged' and include a Google lawyer in the recipient list, whether or not legal questions were involved.
Legal loophole
Google exempted instant messaging from legal holds
Despite US laws mandating companies to preserve documents in anticipation of litigation, Google reportedly exempted instant messaging from automatic legal holds.
If employees were implicated in a lawsuit, it was their responsibility to activate their chat history.
Evidence from recent trials suggests that few employees complied with this requirement, leading to a potential loss of crucial information.
Judicial backlash
Judges criticize Google's communication practices
Google's communication practices have drawn widespread criticism, with judges presiding over all three recent antitrust cases having expressed disapproval.
Judge James Donato, who presided over the Epic Games case, said there was "an ingrained systemic culture of suppression of relevant evidence within Google."
He further described the company's behavior as "a frontal assault on the fair administration of justice."
Policy examination
Google's document retention policies under scrutiny
In another case involving Google's ad tech, a Virginia district court judge noted that the company's document retention policies were designed in a way that "an awful lot of evidence has likely been destroyed."
During the Epic Games trial, Kent Walker, Google's top lawyer, testified that Google produced 13 times more emails per employee than the average company before it was even a decade old.
Denial
Google denies allegations of evidence concealment
While Walker denied allegations of a "culture of concealment" at Google, he did admit that employees were often unsure what specific words meant.
In 2020, Google changed its procedures to default to saving all communications, including chats.
The company also warned employees against using metaphors related to wars or sports and terms like "markets," "market share," or "dominance" in their internal communications.
Court findings
Google's document preservation practices questioned in court
In a case brought by the US Justice Department against Google's search engine dominance, a Columbia district court examined documents the company had withheld as privileged.
The court determined that the documents in question did not deserve such a designation.
Critics contend that Google's method of document preservation and production has been too cautious, even at the cost of transparency.