The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused Google of destroying internal chat records that were required for an antitrust investigation. According to federal laws, the companies should preserve the communications that might help investigators in antitrust cases. Google allegedly violated this law.
The DOJ has brought Big Tech under its radar in recent years. The department is trying to keep these companies accountable for their antitrust violations and abusing competition. Back in 2020, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Google over “unlawfully maintaining monopolies.” The destroyed chat records were reportedly related to this case.
As per the filing details, Google allegedly “systematically destroyed” written communications every 24 hours. This is while the company was required in mid-2019 to change its chat defaults and keep a record of communications. The DOJ also claims Google destroyed chat records even after the lawsuit was filed, and only a few employees kept their chat histories.
DOJ puts Google in hot water over deleting chat evidence
The Department of Justice is also accusing Google of lying to the government. Google has told the agency that it has “put a legal hold in place” to suspend the auto-deletion of chats. However, the DOJ found this claim to be false as the company stopped deleting chats this week when the agency said it would file a motion for sanctions. After this warning shot, Google was forced to “permanently set to history on.”
In Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google, the video game maker claimed that Google employees prefer to talk about sensitive materials in chats because they feel safer. The search giant, however, continued to withhold its policy from the government even after the Epic Games confrontation.
According to DOJ’s deduction, Google has violated the federal rule of civil procedure by deleting chat records. The agency is now asking for a hearing to discuss sanctioning the company.
In response to allegations, Google is refuting the DOJ claims. The company spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that they’d produced over 4 million documents for this case. The team have also “conscientiously worked for years to respond to inquiries and litigation.”
2023-02-26 15:08:48