“Last year, Google changed its procedures. The default became backing up everything, including chats. Employees on litigation hold can no longer turn off chat history”, make the text more attractive and accessible to readers while guaranteeing

A recent report reveals that Google asked its employees to destroy certain posts and avoid using specific language in order to avoid antitrust lawsuits. This practice has reportedly been in place since 2008, following scrutiny of an advertising deal with Yahoo.

Despite Google’s role as custodian of much of the world’s information, the company has worked to suppress internal communications to avoid possible legal consequences. This strategy, which consisted of deleting messages and limiting certain topics of discussion, is detailed in a New York Times report.

The memo that started it all

In 2008, Google faced competition concerns following its advertising deal with Yahoo. To protect the company from possible legal consequences, a confidential memo was sent to employees, advising them to avoid speculation, sarcasm and certain “hot topics” in their communications. Employees were told to wait for “all the facts” before commenting on contentious issues.

Technical changes to remove communication

Google has even tweaked its technology to ensure messages don’t stick around for too long. IM settings were changed to “unofficially”, meaning any unprotected comments would be automatically deleted within 24 hours. The company also recommended that employees mark documents as “attorney-client privilege,” even when no legal issue was involved. Adding a lawyer to the email chain, even if he didn’t respond, was another precaution taken to protect the company from possible lawsuits.

Circumvent document retention laws

While U.S. law requires companies facing litigation to preserve evidence, Google has taken steps to ensure that instant messages are exempt from automatic legal holds. Workers had to manually enable the history saving feature, although few did so, according to evidence from several antitrust lawsuits.

Judicial reaction: suppression of evidence

In recent years, Google’s communications practices have drawn intense criticism in three high-profile antitrust lawsuits. The judges chastised the company for its culture of hiding relevant information.

Judge James Donato, overseeing the 2020 Epic Games case, described Google’s conduct as “a frontal attack on the fair administration of justice.” Similarly, a Virginia judge in a case involving Google’s advertising technology warned that the company’s record-keeping system was likely responsible for destroying key evidence.

Google Document Retention Issues

Although it produces far more emails than the average company, Google’s document retention practices have often been reported as problematic. Kent Walker, Google’s top lawyer, said the company’s difficulty managing the sheer volume of documents contributed to its decision to limit or erase some records. However, he denied any intention to conceal evidence.

Changing policies in 2023

After facing significant legal challenges, Google has revised its internal policies. Now the default setting is to keep all communications, including chats. Employees facing litigation can no longer turn off chat history, marking a shift in the company’s approach to legal compliance.