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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is accusing Google of destroying internal chat histories, which the company is required to preserve under federal rules for an antitrust lawsuit.
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Google is facing multiple antitrust lawsuits, including the DOJ's lawsuit filed in 2020 for "unlawfully maintaining monopolies" around search and search-related advertising.
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The DOJ alleges that Google employees used their internal chatroom to discuss "substantive and sensitive business," which was set to delete history every 24 hours.
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The agency expected Google to change its chat history setting in 2019 when the company "reasonably anticipated [the] litigation," but it left the decision to individual employees.
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Few employees deemed their chat histories relevant to the case and preserved theirs for the court, while Google continued deleting most people's chats even after the lawsuit was filed.
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Google reportedly told the government that it had already "put a legal hold in place" to suspend auto-deletion on its chat tool, but the DOJ alleges that the company's claim was a lie.
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The DOJ is asking the court to rule that Google violated a federal rule and to order a hearing that would determine how the company would be sanctioned.
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The DOJ wants the court to order Google to provide more information about its chat practices.
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Google only stopped deleting chat histories this week after being warned that the agency would file a motion for sanctions.
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The DOJ's allegations add another layer to the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Google.