The FTC has alleged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and its CEO Andy Jassy reportedly destroyed text messages discussing the business that could have potentially been used in the antitrust case against the company.According to the FTC, Bezos and Jassy as well as others at the company used the encrypted communications platform Signal to communicate between April 2019 and May 2022 and used a feature within the platform that made it so the messages were not retained, Bloomberg reports.Bezos and other executives reportedly began using Signal after Bezos’ phone was hacked in 2019 and the National Enquirer threatened to publish his private photos and texts.Amazon spokesman Tim Doyle told Bloomberg that it had voluntarily disclosed Amazon employee’s use of Signal to the FTC years ago and had collected those conversations and allowed agency staff to inspect them. He also claimed those conversations had nothing to do with the FTC’s investigation.The court is reportedly looking into when Amazon executives told employees to use Signal, and what instructions they were given regarding retaining the messages sent there.The FTC began its antitrust investigation into Amazon in 2019 and required the company to retain communications and turn over documents to the commission for inspection.
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Amazon isn’t the only company in hot water with the FTC over how its employees have communicated. Alphabet’s Google has been accused of instructing employees to have conversations over chat with the history function disabled, causing the messages to disappear after 24 hours.The Justice Department has sought sanctions against Google for the move; however, a judge has yet to rule on that request.
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