Google restricts political discussions among employees on U.S. Election Day.

• CNBC has learned that Google has been moderating and removing employees' internal election-related conversations.
• Despite the caution, workers persisted in sharing election-themed memes and criticizing the company's policies.
• The company is intensifying efforts to moderate internal political discussions during the election, emphasizing its role as a reliable source of information for voters.

CNBC has learned that Google has been moderating and removing employees' internal election-related conversations.

Google executives urged employees to refrain from expressing their political views on the internal discussion forum Memegen prior to the U.S. elections on Tuesday, as seen in correspondence obtained by CNBC. However, despite these warnings, employees still posted memes related to the election and criticized the company's policies on the forum on Tuesday.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday issued a memo to remind employees that the company's services are designed to provide "accurate and trustworthy information." This includes through Google Search, Google News, and YouTube.

""Let's remember our role as a business to be a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief, and maintain that trust," Pichai wrote."

Recently, Pichai has been drawn into broader political discussions, with Republican nominee Donald Trump stating that he had several phone conversations with him in recent weeks.

Since 2019, Google has been enforcing a policy that prohibits employees from making statements that "insult, demean, or humiliate" their colleagues and discourages them from engaging in "raging debates over politics or the latest news story."

The company's policy signaled a significant shift in its culture, with some employees pushing back against the restrictions. In 2020, the company announced it was expanding its internal content moderation practices, requiring employees to actively moderate internal discussions, according to CNBC.

In 2021, Google faced internal opposition regarding Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion joint agreement with to provide cloud computing and AI services to the Israeli government and military. This opposition led to Google temporarily shutting down an internal message board in March after employees expressed their concerns about the company's Nimbus contract.

In 2019, the U.S. National Labor Board mandated Google to display a list of employee rights at its headquarters, which included the right to discuss workplace conditions. This was a result of a complaint filed by a former Google employee who claimed that the company suppressed free speech and fired him for expressing conservative views, which Google denied.

The company declined to comment.

Banning political discussions

In September, Google made updates to its Memegen guidelines, which expanded the platform's restrictions on political discussions. The company also announced that employees who violate policies three times would be banned from the platform. Additionally, Google stated that it would use artificial intelligence technology to better detect violative content.

"Google has updated its policy on Memegen, prohibiting the posting of personal political opinions, geopolitical content, and sharing related news without or with commentary," the document stated.

The majority of content removals have been driven by political debates, according to a document outlining expanded policies.

A yellow banner added by Google at the top of Memegen states that it is not a platform for personal political opinions or statements, as seen in images viewed by CNBC.

An employee claimed that Google's internal community management team removed their meme, which they believed was not in violation. Several memes viewed by CNBC contained messages such as "sending support" and "encouragement" to colleagues. Other memes criticized the company's expanded policy and the ICMT.

"This meme is a political statement, please report to ICMT immediately," read one meme. Another read: "Make Election Day a holiday to give ICMT a break." A third meme simply said "aaaaaaaa" overlaid on a black void.

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

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