Google is facing a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice on charges of illegally holding a monopoly in the Internet search market. Government lawyers claim that the company knew that its activities were being scrutinized, so it advised its employees not to use certain words, writes Bloomberg.
According to lawyers who cite internal company documents, Google had a list of words and phrases that were not recommended for use. The list included words and phrases such as “dominance,” “scale,” “network effects,” “market shares,” and “cut off their air supply.”
According to the Ministry of Justice, Google also restricted the storage of records of negotiations among employees. Communication within the company takes place using the Google Chat product. According to the internal policy, employees had to undergo training on chat conversations, and the correspondence was automatically deleted after 24 hours.
Lawyers from the Ministry of Justice provided the court with relevant evidence. In their opinion, Google “concealed and destroyed documents because it knew it was violating antitrust laws.”
As it is known, a high-profile lawsuit between Google and representatives of the Department of Justice has begun in the United States and will last for 10 weeks. The Ministry will try to prove that the tech giant paid significant sums to developers of browsers and smartphones to include the company’s search by default. The case is being considered in the Washington District Court.
Loading comments …