Judge considers sanctions over Google’s destruction of internal chats
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Google of instructing employees to turn off chat history by default when discussing sensitive topics, including revenue-sharing and mobile application distribution agreements. These agreements, according to the DOJ, help maintain Google's search monopoly. The DOJ claims Google destroyed potentially hundreds of thousands of chat sessions during the investigation and litigation, only halting the practice after the DOJ discovered it. The DOJ argues this behavior demonstrates anti-competitive intent to conceal information.