Google accused of destroying evidence in antitrust suit

The tech giant faces allegations that it abused its power in the web search business to create a monopoly

The US Department of Justice has accused Google of “systematically” destroying records linked to ongoing antitrust litigation, saying the company failed to preserve its internal communications despite a previous order to do so.

In a legal filing issued in a Washington, DC federal court on Thursday, DOJ officials said Google has refused to change a feature on its company chat which automatically deletes employees’ logs, adding that it “falsely” claimed to have ended the practice back in 2019.

“Google’s daily destruction of written records prejudiced the United States by depriving it of a rich source of candid discussions between Google's executives, including likely trial witnesses,” DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer said.

While the government said Google was required to end the auto-delete function under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the company did not “preserve potentially relevant chats,” meaning that for nearly four years since the antitrust case was launched, “Google systematically destroyed an entire category of written communications every 24 hours.”

The DOJ has asked the court to rule that the tech giant violated a civil procedure guideline, and requested a hearing to determine how to penalize Google and demand more information about its internal communications.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Google said it “strongly” rejects the allegations, with a spokesperson arguing its teams have “conscientiously worked for years to respond to inquiries and litigation.” They added that the company has “produced over 4 million documents in this case alone, and millions more to regulators around the world.”

The antitrust case against Google was opened in 2020, when the Justice Department said the company is a “monopoly under traditional antitrust principles” in the search engine industry and “must be stopped.” While the government argued the firm has used its market power to disadvantage smaller competitors, Google later slammed the suit as “deeply flawed,” insisting it would “do nothing to help consumers.”

https://www.rt.com/news/572003-google-accused-destroying-evidence/

EU Orders Commission Staff to Delete CCP-Linked TikTok From Phones by March 15th

European Commission staff have been banned from using the Chinese platform TikTok on both government-owned as well as many personal devices over spying concerns.

Officials from within the EU have reportedly banned staff from using the Chinese social media platform TikTok on a plurality of devices over apparent fears to do with the spying threat the app could pose.

It is the latest move from a Western power against the platform, with officials in both Europe and the United States having also implemented partial bans on the social media site, which is heavily linked to the Chinese Communist Party.

According to a report by POLITICO, an email was circulated to European Commission staff on Thursday morning informing them that they were to delete the app from all devices owned by the EU, as well as all personal devices that have work-related content on them.

“To protect Commission’s data and increase its cybersecurity, the EC Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the TikTok application on corporate devices and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service,” the email sent to staff read.

The communication goes on to warn staff that they have until March 15 to comply with the ban, with any device found to have the app installed on it after that date to be considered “non-compliant with the corporate environment”.

In response to the EU’s decision, TikTok has described the ban as being “misguided”, insisting that they can “set the record straight” about the safety of users and their data on the Chinese platform.

The social media platform has a lot of setting straight to do so if the EU’s decision is indeed based on faulty evidence, with authorities across the West now repeatedly implementing restrictions on the use of the platform in the hopes of maintaining national security.

The Netherlands has already told its public authorities to stay off the platform over cybersecurity fears, with the country’s government now investigating whether they should outright ban TikTok from government phones.

Such a ban has already been implemented by the United States, with the country’s parliament now considering a bipartisan bill that would completely ban TikTok from operating in the country so long as it remains under Chinese ownership.

Under Senator Marco Rubio’s Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act), all social media platforms directly owned, indirectly owned or “substantially influenced” by a nation deemed a “foreign adversary” will be prohibited from operating in the U.S.

“We cannot allow hostile governments to use our social media habits as a Trojan Horse into our networks,” Senator Angus King, who helped introduce the bill, said.

“Make no mistake – every ‘private’ enterprise in China has direct ties and on-demand information-sharing requirements with the national government,” he went on to say.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/02/24/eu-orders-commission-staff-to-delete-ccp-linked-tiktok-from-phones-by-march-15th/