Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy destroyed text messages discussing the business that could have potentially been used in the antitrust case against the company, according to the Federal Trade Commission.Bezos, Jassy, and others at the company used encrypted messaging app 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 tells Bloomberg that the company voluntarily disclosed its employees’ use of Signal to the FTC years ago, collected those conversations, and allowed agency staff to inspect them. He also says 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 about retaining the messages sent from the app.
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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.Amazon isn’t the only company in hot water with the FTC over employee communications. 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, Bloomberg reports. 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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