Apple, Google, and Amazon face growing accusations of misusing legal privilege to hide internal records from regulators and courts. These tech giants, already battling antitrust lawsuits, now stand accused of blocking access to key evidence. Their tactics include mislabeling documents as privileged and failing to preserve communications that could hurt their legal defense.
Big Tech’s Shield: Legal Privilege or Legal Evasion?
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the Epic Games vs. Apple case, ruled that Apple wrongly marked nearly half of the documents in question as privileged. She stated that the delay caused by these claims allowed Apple to earn more profits during the legal proceedings. Apple disputes the ruling and plans to appeal.
Google came under fire when a judge said the company failed to save internal chats. Alphabet’s top lawyer, Kent Walker, testified in court but gave answers the judge called evasive and inconsistent. The judge described Google’s actions as the worst attempt to suppress evidence he had seen in ten years.
Amazon also faces criticism from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC accused the company of hiding more than 70,000 documents by claiming they were privileged. Amazon later withdrew 92 percent of those claims and released the records. One internal note revealed executives joking about Jeff Bezos being the “chief dark arts officer” for making cancellations harder for customers.
A Culture of Obstruction
Critics say these aren’t one-off mistakes. They see a broader strategy at play, one where Big Tech uses legal privilege to avoid responsibility. John Newman, a former FTC official, said company lawyers should stop questionable actions, but instead, they often support them.
Megan Gray, who once worked for the FTC and DuckDuckGo, blamed the issue on “rich privilege.” She said top lawyers at these firms make so much money that they don’t fear the consequences. Disbarment, in her view, feels distant and unlikely.
Big Tech firms argue that managing millions of documents quickly leads to errors. But judges aren’t buying that excuse. They see a pattern: delay, deny, and withhold. That behavior now plays a key role in lawsuits that could reshape these companies’ operations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the FTC’s case against Amazon focuses on how it tricked users into signing up for Prime. The notes it held back show executives talking about how canceling was once only possible over the phone. The reference to Bezos highlighted an internal mindset that regulators are now using to show intent.
Apple, Google, and Amazon deny any wrongdoing. Still, their legal strategies are making their critics louder and their cases harder to win.