Google Deliberately Suppressed Evidence To Avoid Antitrust Scrutiny For More Than 10 Years

A new bombshell report from The New York Times accuses tech giant Google of deliberately suppressing evidence to try and avoid antitrust scrutiny. What is shocking is how the company has been busy at work for over a decade to ensure its unfair practices remain disguised.

The report highlights how the company instructed the workforce to get rid of certain internal chats, stop using certain terms, and also encouraged using its legal team to disguise documents so as to prevent legal action.

The alarming article goes on to claim these procedures were done back in 2008 after the Android maker faced so much regulatory action over an ad partnership with Yahoo. At this time, a confidential letter rolled out within the firm which warned workers about the consequences and how they need to be cautious of what they say and use, including casual conversations. This might serve as evidence for future scrutiny, it continued. This means all employees had to think twice before engaging in controversial discussions.

US regulations force firms who anticipate legal action to stop relevant documentation. But Google did allege how it was altering internal communication practices to ensure messages were getting deleted through default settings. All workers were also given the responsibility to delete texts and chats when necessary and also think twice before saving any histories if they were involved in legal complications.

More concerning details raised eyebrows from a memo of 2011 that advised workers to stop using language that might be deemed competitive in nature. Terms like market share and dominance were discouraged and alternative words were suggested as better replacements to steer clear of legal exposure.

As can be seen with the recent legal cases involving Google’s antitrust behavior, many judges discouraged the company’s policy for retaining documents. It was a toxic matter that included suppressing the right evidence. This was also discussed during the high-profile Epic Games lawsuit and more where judges called it the destruction of important evidence.

Meanwhile, another district court also shared its findings after reviewing all the documents that Google withheld under certain privilege claims. They concluded how many were not qualified for these kinds of protections. The judges accused the Android maker of using smart tactics to ensure investigations went in their favor in regard to its monopoly behavior in the world of search.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World