• Google moderated and removed internal employee conversations related to the election, CNBC has learned.
• Despite the warnings, employees continued to post election-related memes and criticize company policies.
• The company is taking extensive steps to temper internal political talk during the election as it reiterates “the role it plays,” which includes being a trusted source of information for voters.

Google moderated and removed internal employee conversations related to the election, CNBC has learned.

Ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. election, Google executives warned employees to keep political opinions and statements off a popular internal discussion board called Memegen, according to correspondence seen by CNBC. Despite the warnings, employees continued to post election-related memes and criticize company policies on Tuesday.

The latest management guidance shows the company is taking extensive steps to temper internal political discussions. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out a memo Monday reminding employees that people turn to the company’s services for “high-quality, reliable information.” This includes through the company’s Google Search, Google News and YouTube services.

“Whoever the voters entrusted, let’s remember the role we play in the workplace, through the products we build and as a business: to be a trusted source of information for people of all backgrounds and faiths,” he wrote Pee. “We will and must maintain this.”

As one of the most prominent tech leaders in the US, Pichai himself has been drawn into the larger political discussions of late. Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed he had more phone calls with Pichai in recent weeks.

Google has been cracking down on internal conversations since 2019, when the company introduced a policy prohibiting employees from making statements that “insult, demean or humiliate” their colleagues. The rules also discouraged employees from engaging in “an angry debate over politics or the latest news.”

This policy signaled a significant culture change for the company. Some employees pushed back against the restrictions, saying they were too broad, and in 2020, the company said it was expanding its internal content moderation practices, requiring employees to more actively moderate internal discussions, CNBC found at the time.

Since 2021, Google has faced internal disagreements over Project Nimbus, which is a $1.2 billion joint contract with Amazon to provide cloud computing and AI services to the Israeli government and military. Google in brief off an internal message in March after employees posted comments about the company’s Nimbus contract.

In a 2019 settlement, the US National Labor Council ordered Google post a list of employee rights at its premises, which includes the right to discuss working conditions. This came after a former Google employee filed a complaint alleging the company restricted free speech and fired him for expressing conservative views, which Google denied.

The company declined to comment.

Prohibition of political discussions

Google announced several updates to its Memegen guidelines in September, which include expanding the forum’s restrictions against political discussion, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC. The company also said it would ban employees from the platform if they violated the policies three times, and Google said it would also use artificial intelligence technology to better detect infringing content.

“Memegen will no longer allow the posting of personal political opinions, including national politics/events, geopolitical content (eg international relations, military conflicts, economic actions, territorial disputes and other international affairs not related to Google) or the sharing of news related to or without comment,” one document said.

Political debates drove the “vast majority” of content removals, an expanded policy document said.

“Memegen is not a place for personal political opinions or statements,” reads a yellow banner Google recently added to the top of Memegen, according to images viewed by CNBC.

One employee wrote that Google’s internal community management team, or ICMT, took his meme, which he didn’t consider a violation. Many memes viewed by CNBC included messages such as “sending support” and “encouragement” to fellow employees. Others poked fun at the company’s extensive policy and ICMT.

“This meme is a political statement, please report to ICMT immediately,” said one meme. Another read: “Make election day a holiday to give ICMT a break.” Another meme just said “aaaaaaaa” superimposed on a black void.

Read Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s full memo to employees below

Hi Google,
Tomorrow is election day here and many across the US will be heading to the polls to vote for everything from school board to judges to Congress and president.

The teams at Google and YouTube have worked hard to ensure that our platforms provide voters with high-quality and reliable information, just as we have done for so many other elections around the world – in fact, dozens of countries have major, hot. contested elections this year, from France to India to the UK to Mexico and more, with more than a billion people voting in 2024.

We should be proud of our work and also the efforts of our teams to keep campaigns safe, provide accurate information on where and how to vote, and provide digital advertising solutions to campaigns. Thank you to everyone who works around the clock on these efforts throughout the campaign season and as the votes are counted.

As with other elections, the outcome will be a major topic of conversation in living rooms and elsewhere around the world. And, of course, the result will have important consequences. Whoever the voters entrusted, let’s remember the role we play in the workplace, through the products we build, and as a business: to be a trusted source of information for people of all backgrounds and faiths. We will and must maintain this. In that spirit, it’s important that everyone continues to follow the Community Rules and Personal Political Activities Policy.

After Election Day, our work to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful will continue. Al has provided us with a profound opportunity to advance this mission, build great products and partnerships, drive innovation, and make meaningful contributions to national and local economies. Our company is at its best when we focus on it.

Thank you,
Sundar

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