Attempts to conceal cooperation: FTC accuses Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos of destroying important communications

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed charges against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and other company executives for destroying text messages that could be used in an antitrust case.

Here's What We Know

According to Bloomberg, Amazon claims that Bezos and his colleagues started using the encrypted messenger Signal after Bezos' phone was hacked in 2019.

According to the FTC, Bezos and Amazon's current CEO, Andy Jassy, used Signal to exchange business-related messages from April 2019 to May 2022, and used a feature of the app that allows messages to be automatically deleted after being viewed.

Amazon claims that they voluntarily disclosed their use of Signal to the FTC years ago and provided all the necessary information for the investigation. The company also noted that these conversations had nothing to do with the FTC's investigation.

The litigation is now focusing on whether the company ordered its employees to use Signal and what instructions were provided on how to retain messages.

Amazon is not the only company that has come under fire from the FTC's criticism in connection with employee communications.

Google, part of Alphabet, has also been investigated for disabling chat history, which led to messages disappearing within 24 hours. The Ministry of Justice has requested sanctions against Google for these actions, but a decision on this issue has not yet been made.

Source: PCMag