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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Judge Amit P. Mehta considered sanctions in May 2024 after the U.S. Department of Justice argued that Google’s “history off” chat setting erased potentially relevant internal messages during its search-monopoly litigation. Mehta criticized Google’s preservation practices, but he did not sanction the company over the chats in that case. On August 5, 2024, he found Google liable for unlawfully monopolizing important search and search-text-advertising markets.
The short version
- What was deleted: Google Chat messages sent with history disabled. Reporting described automatic deletion after about 24 hours; the allegation did not concern every Google chat.
- Why it mattered: The DOJ said missing discussions could have addressed revenue sharing, default-search agreements, mobile distribution and Google’s competitive strategy.
- What the DOJ requested: Evidentiary presumptions that the messages were unfavorable to Google, that its explanation was pretextual, and that the deletion supported an inference of intent, plus limits on Google’s arguments about missing evidence.
- What happened: Mehta expressed serious concern but ultimately imposed no chat-related sanctions in the search case.
The dispute was a spoliation issue—whether potentially relevant electronically stored information was not reasonably preserved—not a separate finding that the deleted chats proved an antitrust violation.
Which case was involved?
The hearing took place on May 3, 2024, near the end of United States and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-03010-APM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The DOJ and participating states alleged that Google maintained monopolies in general search services and general search text advertising through exclusionary distribution arrangements involving Apple, Android manufacturers, browsers and wireless carriers. The DOJ’s case page provides the procedural record at justice.gov.
Internal communications about those agreements could have helped show how Google understood their effects, why it defended them and how it managed relationships with distribution partners. But relevance to the antitrust claims and proof of what any particular missing message said are different questions.
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How Google’s “history off” setting worked
According to the DOJ’s filings and contemporaneous reporting, employees could turn off chat history. Messages sent while history was off were automatically deleted from Google’s servers after a short period, described in reporting as 24 hours. The DOJ said Google instructed or encouraged employees to use the setting for sensitive discussions and continued the practice during investigation and litigation periods until the issue was discovered and preservation practices changed. The hearing account is reported by Ars Technica.
This does not mean every Google message disappeared, nor that employees manually deleted each one. The allegation concerned history-off conversations involving custodians and subjects within the scope of Google’s preservation duties. Whether a communication had to be preserved depends on its likely relevance, the people and time period covered, and whether it was within Google’s possession, custody or control.
Why the DOJ said the missing chats mattered
The government said potentially hundreds of thousands of chat sessions may have been destroyed; that figure was the DOJ’s estimate, not an independently audited count established by the court. The DOJ identified subjects that could have included:
- Revenue-sharing agreements and default-search arrangements.
- Mobile application-distribution agreements.
- Google’s dealings with Apple, Android device makers, browsers and carriers.
- Internal awareness of the agreements’ competitive effects.
- Google’s reasons for maintaining or defending its distribution practices.
The DOJ also advanced a broader argument: systematic use of history-off communications could suggest an effort to avoid creating discoverable evidence. That was an allegation, not a judicial finding that the deleted messages were incriminating. The established point was that the system deleted messages when history was disabled; the contents of unavailable messages could not be determined.
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What sanctions did the DOJ seek?
The government asked Mehta to use Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) to impose evidentiary relief. In plain English, it sought presumptions and argument restrictions rather than simply a monetary fine:
- A presumption that the deleted chats would have been unfavorable to Google.
- A presumption that Google’s stated justification for the policy was pretextual.
- A presumption that Google acted with an intent to delete chats to help maintain its alleged monopoly.
- Limits on Google arguing that the absence of evidence undermined the DOJ’s case or forced the government to rely on unsupported assumptions.
The DOJ’s February 2024 filing discussing Rule 37(e) is available at justice.gov, and its May 2024 materials concerning the chat issue are at justice.gov.
What did Google argue?
Google’s lawyers disputed the requested relief. Their arguments, as reported at the hearing, included:
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- The DOJ should have learned about the chat policy earlier; Google said it had disclosed the policy to the Texas attorney general.
- The government had not shown that the missing messages contained relevant or damaging evidence.
- The policy was reasonable given the informal nature and volume of workplace chats.
- There was no proof Google intended to hide evidence, and imposing sanctions without proof of harm would be unprecedented.
That defense did not make the dispute disappear. The DOJ’s response was that the inability to know what was destroyed is itself the prejudice created by an alleged preservation failure.
What did Judge Mehta say?
Mehta questioned why a major company would treat automatic deletion as an appropriate practice for potentially sensitive business discussions. He said Google’s retention policy “leaves a lot to be desired.” He also challenged the argument that sanctions were improper merely because no one could prove what the missing chats contained: preservation exists precisely so a court is not left guessing about potentially relevant evidence.
Those comments showed skepticism and concern. They were not a sanctions order, and they did not establish that Google deliberately destroyed incriminating material.
How Rule 37(e) applies
Rule 37(e) addresses electronically stored information that should have been preserved in anticipation of or during litigation but was lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it and cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery.
- Negligence: an inadequate or careless preservation process.
- Gross negligence: an exceptionally serious failure to preserve.
- Intent to deprive: purposeful conduct aimed at preventing the opposing party from using the information in the litigation.
The harshest remedies—such as presuming the lost information was unfavorable—require a finding that the party acted with intent to deprive. The DOJ argued that Google’s policy and employee instructions supported that finding. Google argued that the government had not proved intent or shown what the messages would have said.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What was the actual outcome?
In his August 5, 2024 merits opinion, Mehta found that Google unlawfully monopolized general search services and general search text advertising. The opinion addressed the preservation dispute, but he did not impose the DOJ’s requested chat sanctions in the search case. Contemporary coverage described the result as Google avoiding sanctions, including reporting by the Washington Post. The court opinion is available in accessible text at FindLaw and as a PDF at AdExchanger.
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That distinction matters: Google’s antitrust liability does not prove that the deleted chats would have supported the DOJ’s case, and the troubling retention practice was not separately declared an antitrust violation.
What happened in the remedies phase?
On September 2, 2025, Mehta issued the remedies decision. The court imposed significant behavioral remedies, including restrictions on certain exclusive arrangements and search-related requirements, but rejected the DOJ’s request to force Google to sell Chrome. The remedies opinion is at Justia; the DOJ’s summary is at justice.gov, and an independent account is available from the Associated Press.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThose remedies were part of the antitrust case’s next phase, not a punishment for the deleted chats.
Why corporate chat retention matters
Workplace messaging is often treated as informal, but substantive business decisions increasingly occur in chat. Companies managing litigation or investigations should:
- Disable auto-delete for relevant custodians when a legal hold applies.
- Preserve collaboration-platform messages as well as email and formal documents.
- Document retention and legal-hold decisions.
- Train employees not to move substantive business discussions into ephemeral channels.
- Audit whether preservation settings actually work.
- Avoid relying solely on employee discretion for high-risk communications.
These are general information-governance principles, not a substitute for advice from litigation counsel. A compliance product cannot by itself determine the legally required scope of a hold.
Do not confuse this hearing with other Google cases
Google has faced separate evidence-preservation disputes in other antitrust litigation, including litigation concerning the Google Play Store. Those proceedings may involve different courts, dockets, dates and orders. The May 2024 hearing described here concerned the DOJ’s D.C. search case, in which Google ultimately avoided sanctions over the chats.
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